The Slippery Rock University women’s indoor track and field team recorded 17 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference qualifying performances at the Kent State Tune-Up on Saturday.
The top performances for the Rock came in the pole vault, where four athletes reached the PSAC mark.
Senior Angela Schroeder led the way for the vaulters finishing sixth place at a clearance of 3.45 meters.
Junior Julia Cain took seventh at 3.30 meters and senior Emily Vaughn claimed ninth, also at 3.30 meters. Freshman Michaela Kasik also reached the PSAC mark competing in the unseeded section with a clearance of 3.05 meters.
The Rock will be well represented in the pole vault when PSAC championship begins on Saturday.
Head coach John Papa believes he has the top vaulters in the conference. Papa also believes that his team can finish in the top 3. Schroeder has high expectations for herself and her fellow teammates on Saturday.
“I’d really like to set my personal record this weekend,” Schroeder said, “It’s been my goal for a while now to reach 12 feet, it’s so hard to believe that this is my last indoor PSAC meet. I want to make sure I take advantage of it so it’s a good memory to look back on.”
Sophomore Katelyn Wetzel led SRU sprinters with PSAC marks in both short sprints. She placed seventh in the 60-meter dash in 7.95 seconds and was 15th in the 200-meter dash in 26.31 seconds.
Wetzel believes there is a strong chance that Slippery Rock could take the team title in PSACs. According to the sophomore sprinter, she is where she needs to be for the conference championship.
“My expectations for PSACs this upcoming weekend are to hopefully make it into finals in both the 60 and 200 meter dashes.” Wetzel said, “After this past weekend, I am very confident that I am physically and mentally ready for PSACs. My mindset is right where it needs to be after what I did at Kent.”
Freshman Lexie Nowakowski rounded out the PSAC qualifying performances in the sprints with an 18th-place finish in the 400-meter dash in 1:00.34.
The final PSAC marks for the Green and White on the track came in the 60-meter hurdles, where sophomore London Parris placed 12th in 9.34 seconds and senior Tara Catone took 22nd in 9.77 seconds.
Mariah Burns led the horizontal jumpers with PSAC qualifying marks in both events.
The freshman took seventh in the triple jump with a jump of 10.78 meters and ninth in the long jump with a leap of 5.06 meters. She was joined in the triple jump by freshman Bronte Soul in ninth at 10.34 meters and in the long jump by freshman Sam Taylor in 12th at 5.01 meters.
The final PSAC qualifying marks of the day for Slippery Rock came in the throwing events.
Junior Amanda McCool led the way with an 11th-place showing in the weight throw with a toss of 13.96 meters.
McCool was joined by junior Allyson Hubble in 22nd at 12.33 meters. Hubble also hit the mark in the shot put with a 22nd-place showing with a toss of 11.23 meters. She was joined by freshman Breanna Northcott in 26th at 10.91 meters.
According to Papa, senior distance runner Stephanie Case is a favorite to win the 5,000 meter on Saturday. Case finished last year with all-PSAC honors. Ashley West is also considered a favorite to win the high jump.
Shippensburg is considered the favorite to take the PSAC title on Saturday, according to Papa.
“We’re hoping to give Shippensburg a run for their money,” Papa said.
Saturday’s meet was the largest of the season for Slippery Rock, with most of the events featuring more than 30 competitors from some of the top Division I and Division II schools in the region.
The meet was also the final tune-up for SRU before the PSAC championship meet, which will take place Saturday and Sunday at Edinboro University.
