Senior sprinter impresses after returning from injuries

Rutgers head men’s track and field coach Mike Mulqueen was happy to see one of the team’s familiar faces return this weekend at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, N.J. Senior Aaron Younger came back to compete in his first meet since the indoor IC4A Championships.

Younger had been recovering from a torn calf and Achilles tendonitis. But the Franklinville, N.J., native picked up where he left off, finishing fifth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53 seconds.

In a precautionary measure, Younger altered his running style for the event, taking what Mulqueen estimated to be 10 more steps than usual. Nonetheless, his time was good enough to qualify him for the Big East and IC4A Championships

“He looked a little rusty, but it was good to have him back,” Mulqueen said.

Rutgers sent only 11 of its team members to the meet — which was not scored — as most of its top contributors sat out to train for the Big East and IC4A Championships.

The Scarlet Knights welcomed a new face to the team, as well, as sophomore Jordan Thomas — a member of the Rutgers football team the last two years — returned to the track for the first time since high school.

Thomas ran the 100- and 200-meter dashes, finishing 18th and 30th respectively with times of 11 and 22.52 seconds. The Endicott, N.Y., native’s 100-meter time was exactly good enough to hit the Big East Championship qualifier.

“If you haven’t run a sprint race in two years, you’re going to be a little rusty, a little stale,” Mulqueen said. “But he hung in there tough. For [running] your first race and qualifying for Big East, it’s good since he hasn’t done it in two years. … Maybe we can get him through to the IC4A’s in another meet.”

Mulqueen is unsure if Thomas will remain on the team beyond this season.

Elsewhere in the sprints, freshman D’Andre Jordan recorded a career-best time of 48.22 seconds in the 400-meter dash, placing him 10th. Jordan, who has battled injuries all season, impressed his coach

“He looked better than he’d looked all year,” Mulqueen said. “He’s a freshman. It takes a little time — you’re going to go up and down at times — but he has a lot of ability.”

Freshman Kadeem Douse finished 16th in the 100-meter dash, recording a time of 10.99 seconds. Douse, despite already qualifying for the Big East and IC4A Championships in the event, ran the 100 to get more experience before championship season.

The Ewing, N.J., native also ran the 200-meter dash, in which he finished 24th with a time of 22.30 seconds.

The Knights had their largest contingent of athletes in the middle distance events, in which seven of the 11 team members competed.

Senior Monroe Kearns’ mark of 1:52.32 in the 800-meter run was good enough to surpass the Big East-qualifying mark in the last meet before the conference championships. Kearns will also compete on the Knights’ 4x800-meter relay team, which recorded the conference’s sixth-best mark in the event at the IC4A Championships.

“Monroe is starting to look like his old self now,” Mulqueen said. “He has scored in the Big East 800 a couple of times. … I think he has a shot to get in there and score like he has in the past.”

The 800-meter run also featured two Knights achieving career highs in senior Ben Forrest and sophomore Curtis Richburg. Forrest’s mark of 1:53.72 seconds placed him 10th, while Richburg’s time of 1:54.39 was good for 19th.

Neither time was enough to hit the Big East qualifier, though Richburg’s mark shattered his old career best by more than 3 seconds.