Nine Queens College Track & Field athletes traveled to Massachusetts for the 2026 Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic. The BU John Terrier Classic is hosted every year with runners from all over the world with this year’s competition running from Friday, January 30th into Saturday, January 31st.
On the women’s team, three freshmen were chosen to compete — Kezia Hamilton, Celeste Minkwe-Jore and Jordyn Cruz. Junior Carly Koprowski and senior Brianna Call were also selected. “I felt so grateful to be able to participate in the Boston meet. It was amazing to see and be able to compete against such incredible athletes. Every person I saw was so talented and kind to each other and having girls running against me, cheering me on is just some of the best sportsmanship I’ve ever seen. Truly it was an amazing experience,” said Brianna Call in a statement given to The Knight News.
The QC women’s track & field team made an astounding performance at the meet. Hamilton ran the 200 meter dash open with a time of 28.27 placing 111th out of 116. Minkwe-Jore set a new personal record for herself in the 200 meter dash open with a time of 26.35 placing 61st out of 116, and Call ran a PR in the 400 meter dash open with a time of 1:07.88 placing 84th out of 85.
On the men’s team, two freshmen Dorian Boyd and Nathanael Hansen and two juniors Daniel DeGregori and Jalen George were picked to race. The meet featured some of the top D1, D2 and D3 collegiate runners and elite athletes, beginning with the women competing on Friday and the men closing the classic on Saturday.
Jordyn Cruz ran a personal record (PR) in the 800 meter dash open with a time of 2:20.42 coming in 80th place out of 158. Carly Koprowski broke the school record and PR’d in the 800 meter dash open with an impressive time of 2:13.38 coming in 25th place out of 158. When recounting her performance in the 800 meter run, Kaprowski said: “I was shocked because it was the fastest I’ve ever run. Sometimes it takes me a while to get to that point in the outdoor season, so I was extremely happy.” The 4×400 meter relay squad featuring Minkwe-Jore, Koprowski, Cruz, and Call showed up strong and ran a PR time of 4:13.01, placing 24th out of 27.
The next day, the QC men’s track & field team made a powerful performance. Dorian Boyd ran the 400 and 200 meter dash open running a time of 50.69 for the 400, placing 62nd out of 112, and 23.62 for the 200, coming in 125th place out of 137. Nathanael Hansen ran the 800 meter dash open with a time of 2:00.40, placing 115th out of 137. Daniel DeGregori ran the 1 mile open with a time of 4:39.19, placing 223rd out of 240. Nathanael Hansen explained what was going through his mind before the run stating: “I felt really pumped for this race because this was my first one out of NYC but also very nervous because I knew the scale of which I was competing. Even though my completion was the same, the pressure felt real.”
Jalen George competed in two field events, the shot put and weight throw. George put (pushed) to 12.27 meters in the shot put, placing 29th out of 30, and threw to 14.17 meters in the weight throw, placing 25th out of 32.
When asked to comment on how both QC teams performed, the Assistant Cross Country and Track & Field Coach, Olga Ladino Romero said, “We saw several strong performances, and Carly came very close to hitting the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] national qualifying mark, which was especially exciting for the team. Overall, it was a great experience and a positive step forward as we build momentum heading into ECCs [East Coast Conference].” The Knights had their last ECC indoor track and field event for the season at Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Complex on February 15th, as they now set their attention to the upcoming outdoor season.