The Slippery Rock men’s outdoor track and field team posted 19 PSAC qualifying marks and recorded four wins at Indiana University of Pa.’s Ed Fry Invitational Saturday.
Despite having to cope with undesirable weather conditions, head coach John Papa feels his athletes are pushing themselves to compete at a high level.
“We’ve been performing consistently and are preparing ourselves for the PSAC Championships in May,” Papa said. “Our events are progressing well this season.”
Senior Mason McLaughlin, senior Ethan Geisler, junior Trevor Foley, and sophomore Hunter Williams paired up in the 4×400-meter relay at the Ed Fry Invite and posted a winning time of 3:26.12.
In the 110-meter hurdles, junior Jonathan Boyd ran his best time of the season, taking the win with a time of 14.74 seconds. Geisler took third with a time of 15.42 seconds.
Senior Kyle Toms took the top spot in the shot put with a throw of 15.62 meters. Toms was joined by sophomore Trevor Miller in fifth at 14.29 meters and freshman David Reinhardt in seventh at 13.44 meters.
SRU’s final event win of the meet came from junior Victor Santoyo in the high jump with a clearance of 1.90 meters.
As the season progresses and the PSAC Championships approach, Papa said he will be pushing his athletes to focus and compete at all times.
“In most of our events there are athletes from other PSAC schools, so we need to be aggressive and have the will to win,” Papa explained.
The Rock fell short of the top spot in the 400-meter hurdles but took the next three places. Geisler placed second with a time of 54.32 seconds, Foley took third at 54.74 seconds, and Boyd took fourth at 56.59 seconds.
The team will be focusing on improving their technique in upcoming practices so that they can compete at the highest level in the championships, Geisler said.
“We have a lot of talent on the team,” Geisler said. “We come in and compete everyday at practice. It’s easier to be consistent when everyone is competing and making each other better.”
Williams and sophomore Monte Chapman finished top-five and met PSAC standards in both the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes.
Williams took second in both events, recording a time of 22.08 seconds in the 200m and 49.89 seconds in the 400m. Chapman fell just behind Williams in the 200m, posting a time of 22.66 seconds. In the 400m, Chapman took fifth with a time of 50.36 seconds.
Three athletes met PSAC standards in the discus throw for the Green and White. Reinhardt took third with a toss of 43.15 meters, followed by junior Billy Martin in fifth at 42.45 meters and sophomore Nick Garuccio in eighth at 40.13 meters.
Reinhardt also earned fourth place in the javelin throw with a toss of 55.61 meters.
Freshman Keiffer Reed cleared 4.15 meters in the pole vault and placed second. Reed was the only Rock vaulter to meet PSAC standards at IUP, but he was joined in the event by freshmen Joey Rakowsi and Michael Shiverdecher who tied for third with matching 4.00m clearances.
Senior Kevin Jewel also met PSAC standards for SRU with a third place finish in the 1,500-meter run (4:01.86).
SRU has yet to qualify an athlete for the PSAC Championships in the long jump event, but Papa said he has several athletes that will be looking to reach this standard in the upcoming meets.
Slippery Rock will travel to Ohio to compete at the Ashland Open this weekend.
