The Slippery Rock women’s outdoor track and field team opened their season by bringing back 30 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference marks from their annual Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach.
The team competed at the Shamrock Invitational March 15-16 and at the Washington and Lee Carnival March 24.
Head coach John Papa was pleased with the team’s accomplishments over break and is confident about their abilities.
“We had outstanding performances at the meets,” Papa said. “Several of our athletes will be competing for top spots at the PSAC Championships in May.”
At Washington and Lee, the Rock set a new meet record in the high jump and recorded 13 top-three finishes.
Freshman Ashley West set the new record for the high jump with a winning clearance of 1.72 meters. West was joined by freshman Paige Kassab, who took fourth with a clearance of 1.57 meters. In the long jump, West took second with 5.38 meters, followed by freshman Sam Taylor in third at 5.23 meters.
Junior Julia Cain cleared 3.60 meters to place third in the pole vault.
Sophomore London Parris took the win in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.78 seconds. Parris later competed in the 400-meter hurdles where she clocked a time of 1:07.91, placing fifth.
In the 100-meter dash, sophomore Katelyn Wetzel ran the event in 12.27 seconds to take second. Sophomore Samantha Zampetti ran 12.98 seconds in the 100m to take seventh.
Wetzel also placed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.29 seconds. Freshman Lexie Nowakoski took fifth in the event with a time of 26.24 seconds. Nowakowski also ran the 400-meter dash and took third-place with a time of 1:00.05.
Sophomore Angelica Bagwell competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the first time and took second-place with a mark of 11:33.06.
Bagwell usually competes in the 800-meter or 1,500-meter events so she was nervous heading into her first try at the steeplechase.
“I’m not exactly an experienced distance runner,” Bagwell explained. “I was pretty nervous the whole week leading up to the race, but as soon as I got up to the starting line I just went for it.”
After placing second, Bagwell is determined to improve her time in the event.
“There’s definitely room for improvement,” Bagwell said. “I’m pretty sure this is going to be my main event and I want to focus on it. I want to keep shaving off time.”
Sophomore Krista Caldwell, who took 10th with a time of 12:25.11, joined Bagwell in the event.
Sophomore Janine Powis placed fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.92.
Slippery Rock’s final event win came from senior Kim Goth in the javelin. Goth threw for 37.21 meters.
Sophomore Brittany Christiansen took second in the hammer throw with a throw of 45.85 meters, followed by junior Amanda McCool in fourth at 42.83 meters and junior Allyson Hubble in fifth at 40.96 meters.
The Green and White’s relay teams had two top-three finishes, one in the 4×100-meter and the other in the 4×400-meter.
The 4×100-meter team of Wetzel, Nowakowski, Zampetti and freshman Emily Moroco took second with a combined time of 49.74 seconds.
The 4×400-meter team of Wetzel, Nowakowski, Parris and junior Elissa McCune ran a time of 4:03.63 for the third-place spot.
After enjoying a week down south, the team was welcomed back to the Rock by winter weather that caused them to adjust their training.
Papa said that although they were hoping to return to better weather and train more outside, the team will make due.
“When you live in the northeast part of the USA, this is the kind of weather you have to deal with,” Papa said. “Our athletes benefit from using the field house for practice, but a lot of our athletes will be outside braving the cold, snowy weather.”
Papa will be taking his team back to the south today for a two-day meet, the Raleigh Relays, at North Carolina State University.
