The Rutgers Scarlet Knight Open took place on February 6, 2026, at The Armory in New York, NY, featuring strong performances from La Salle University's women's track team and the University at Albany's men's squad. La Salle athletes placed highly in the women's 5k, while Albany set program records in multiple events. The meet served as a key tune-up before conference championships.
On Friday afternoon, February 6, 2026, track and field athletes from various universities gathered at The Armory in New York, NY, for the Rutgers Scarlet Knight Open, hosted by Rutgers University. The event highlighted individual achievements across distances and field events, with participating teams using it as preparation for upcoming competitions.
La Salle University's women's track team fielded five athletes in the women's 5k college race. Sophomore Gillian Lovett led the group, securing second place with a time of 17:25.64. Junior Stella Hammond followed in fourth at 17:39.38. Sophomores Amelia Green and Cara Coppolino finished eighth and ninth, respectively, with times of 17:57.97 and 18:03. Senior Emma Taylor rounded out the La Salle contingent in 14th place at 18:42.4. The Explorers are scheduled to return to action on February 14 at the BU Valentine Invitational, starting at 9:30 a.m. and streamed on FloSports.
Meanwhile, the University at Albany's men's track and field team delivered a robust performance in their final team meet before the conference championship. Jacob Smith broke a 14-year-old program record in the mile, finishing first in 4:00.88, surpassing Paul Lagno's 2012 mark of 4:01.86. Frankie Gonzalez threw 16.41 meters in the shot put, placing third all-time in program history and setting a Dominican Republic national record. Julio Martinez ran the 600m dash in 1:20.85, earning seventh all-time. Freshman Leonard Durau jumped 15.38 meters in the triple jump, securing seventh in program history, just four inches shy of the freshman record. Jed Elmbarki added a ninth-place all-time mark in the mile with 4:06.93.
Albany celebrated three first-place finishes: Tooni Ogunyeye in the 200m, Nick Sealey in the 400m, and Smith in the mile. Nine athletes reached the top three overall, and the team set 12 personal records, underscoring their momentum heading into championships.
