CHESTER, Pa. (3/29/08) - The Kean University men's and women's track and field teams opened the 2008 outdoor season at the Danny Curran Invitational at Widener University on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Freshman John Badala (Scotch Plains, N.J.) had three top-six finishes to lead the Cougars, placing in the shot put, javelin and discus throws. Badala (pictured right) placed fifth in the javelin, with a throw of 51.72 meters (169-08), while adding sixth place finishes in the shot put (13.72 meters/45-00.25) and discus (38.30 meters/125-08).

Junior Jason Staggers (Jackson, N.J.) had the best Kean showing of the meet, placing second in the long jump with a leap of 6.53 meters (21-05.25) to also qualify for the ECAC Outdoor Championships.

In the men's 100-meter dash, junior Sean Oyelaja (Lagos, Nigeria) and rookie Marques Wallace (Vauxhall, N.J.) placed seventh (11.41 seconds) and tenth (11.55 seconds), respectively. Thrower Alex Cade (Galloway, N.J.) rounded out the top 10 finishes with a 10th place showing in the javelin (46.76 meters/153-05).

Junior Erin Jones (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) led the Cougar women with a pair of top 10 finishes, as she was tied for sixth in the pole vault (2.90 meters/9-06.25) and placed 10th in the 100-meter hurdles (17.62 seconds).