The Slippery Rock University women’s indoor track and field season began with success last Friday at the Youngstown State Icebreaker and the Kent State Golden Flash Gala.
The Green and White athletes reached 23 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference marks, four NCAA provisional marks, and tied a school record.
Two athletes competed in multi events at Kent State, where two NCAA provisional events were met. Sophomore Sabrina Anderson and Freshman Allyssa Allwine both competed in the pentathlon. Anderson scored 3,373 points, taking second place, and Allwine scored 2,097 points to take 10th. Anderson’s 3,373 points met one NCAA provisional mark and her high jump of 1.7 meters met the other one. Anderson was also named the PSAC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week.
SRU assistant coach Bill Jordan had high praise for Anderson’s work ethic and determination.
“Our best athletes on the track are our best athletes in the weight room,” Jordan said. “Sabrina’s off to a good start, and with her training regiment, I only expect her to get better. Just like everything else, it takes about four or five times until you hit your stride so she should have her best performances at the indoor meets coming up in the next month.”
At Youngstown State, 23 PSAC marks were met, two more NCAA provisional marks were met, and one school record was tied.
In the 60 meter dash, SRU juniors Jasmine Bailey and Emily Moroco both reached PSAC standards. Bailey did not compete in the finals, but her preliminary time of 7.47 seconds tied the SRU school record set by Janiece Rash in 2006. Moroco finished in fourth place with a time of 7.9 seconds.
Moroco also hit PSAC standards in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26 seconds. She finished in seventh place.
Three Rock runners achieved PSAC standards in the 400 meter dash. Bailey, sophomore Lauren Harvey, and junior Cassandra Swartzbaugh all finished with PSAC times. Bailey came in second place with a time of 58.49 seconds, Harvey came in fourth place in 59.03 seconds, and Swartzbaugh finished in 11th with a time of 1:00.77.
Bailey, Swartzbaugh, Moroco, and Harvey also competed in the 4×400 meter relay, where they posted a time of 4:04.66.
In the 60 meter hurdles, three more Green and White athletes met PSAC standards. Junior Summer Weinheimer ran a time of 9.38 seconds to take 10 place. Sophomore Kennedy Evans came in 12 place with a time of 9.42 seconds. Freshman Sophie Mazza finished in 13 place in 9.48 seconds.
The other two NCAA provisional marks were attained in pole vault by junior Kaitlyn Clark and freshman Courtney McQuaide. They both cleared a height of 3.55 meters and tied for second place. Sophomore Megan Matrisciano reached PSAC standards with her clearance of 3.4 meters, good for fifth place.
Jordan liked what he saw from Clark McQuaide early in the season, but expects them to get better as the season progresses.
“Both of these ladies are very, very good athletes, and are off to a great start this year,” Jordan said. “I fully expect them to be clearing 12 feet (3.6 meters) by the end of the season.”
Five more PSAC standards were met in the jumping events. Juniors Paige Kassab and Ashley West finished the high jump in first and second place with jumps of 1.63 meters and 1.6 meters respectively.
Kassab and fellow junior Sam Taylor also hit PSAC standard distances in the triple jump event. Taylor finished in third place with a jump of 11.1 meters and Kassab had a jump of 10.62 meters landing her in eighth place. Finally, Taylor finished in eighth place in the long jump with a jump of 5.2 meters
The final six PSAC standards were met in throwing events. In the weight throw, SRU junior Breana Northcott and senior Brittany Christiansen finished in second and third place respectively. Northcott’s best throw was 15 meters and Christiansen’s was 14.78 meters.
In the shot put, SRU sophomore Caitlin Whalen, Christiansen, Northcott, and freshman Anna Frengel all had PSAC standard throws. Whalen won the event with a 12.18 meter throw, Christiansen came in sixth place with a 12.09 meter throw, Northcott had an 11.29 meter throw for 10 place, and Frengel’s 10.91 meter throw landed her in 11 place.
The Rock women are done for 2014, but their season will pick up again on Jan. 17 when they compete at the Edinboro Invitational.
