The Slippery Rock University men’s outdoor track team earned 19 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifications and won five events at the California University of Pennsylvania Early Bird meet on Saturday.
Despite the cold temperatures and strong winds, the men were able to compete hard and have solid performances throughout.
“Our men’s team had several strong performances, especially in the pole vault and the sprints,” SRU head coach John Papa said. “The cold and windy conditions hampered some for the events, but we competed well.”
The throwers had a good day on the field with David Reinhardt winning the discus with a throw of 46.38 meters.
He also placed third in the hammer throw with a distance of 48.06 meters, right behind Nick Garuccio who took second with a throw of 48.29 meters.
Trevor Miller and Jerrod Galloway competed in the shot put, taking second and fifth place with throws of 15.34 and 13.59 meters respectively.
The hurdles crew had two first place performances. Jacob VanHouten won the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54.59 and Noah Bostick won the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.91. VanHouten also competed in the 110 hurdles where he placed third with a time of 15.86. Logan Mooney also competed in the hurdles, placing fifth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 56.83. Noah Bostick also competed in the long jump, where he placed fourth with a jump of 6.53 meters.
The 4×100 meter relay squad won the event with a total time of 42.25 seconds.
The relay consisted of Erik Record, Brandon Vanderbrook, Monte Chapman and Hunter Williams. All four men also competed in individual races. Record also competed in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash, taking second and seventh with times of 10.97 and 22.49 respectively.
Vanderbrook also competed in the 100 meter dash, placing fifth with a time of 11.16.
Chapman competed in the 200 meter dash and the 400 meter run.
He placed 10th with a time of 22.68 in the 200 meter run and took second in the 400 meter run with a time of 50.01.
Williams placed third in the 400 meter run at 50.11.
The pole vault crew rounded out the meet with five men taking the top-10 spots.
Cody Colagrande, Andrew Koksal and Jordan Pacheco took the first three places with a vault of 4.70 meters.
Keiffer Reed placed seventh at 4.40 meters and Andrew Lovano took 10th place with a vault of 4.25 meters.
“Everyone started off well for the outdoor season, and now we have set the bar for the rest of the year and know what we have to do to get ready for the championships in just a few weeks,” sophomore Jacob VanHouten said. “I’m really excited to see what the season holds.”
The Green and White will travel to compete at the Raleigh Relays held by North Carolina State on Friday.
