Only two men competed this past weekend for the Slippery Rock men’s track team. Due to snow, Sunday’s meet at Indiana University (Pa.) was canceled. This left junior Erik Lee and senior Nate Zigler as the lone competitors for The Rock this weekend. Lee and Zigler competed in the Decathlon at the Liberty Invitational in Lynchburg, Va.
Despite skipping the meet at IUP, SRU head coach John Papa still thinks it was a productive weekend for his team.
“I bet you for a lot of our guys it was a blessing, get some rest and a lot of our guys are feeling pretty good. Feeling pretty rested up and excited for what is supposed to be a really nice weekend,” Papa said.
The decathlon is a 10-event competition, with competitors scoring points for their placements in each event. Every athlete competes in three runs (100-meter, 400-meter and 1500-meter), the 110-meter hurdles, three field events (high jump, pole vault, and long jump) and three throwing events (shot put, discus, and javelin).
Lee lead The Rock on Saturday, taking second place in the overall decathlon. Lee also won the 1500-meter run. He added second-place finishes in the 400-meter run and the shot put.
Lee said he felt a little weird without all of his teammates around.
“It’s definitely a different feel. There was a lot of talent down there with people from Virginia Tech,” Lee said. “There was definitely a different feel down there than normally. We also had our coaches and (graduate assistant) so it’s still a team.”
Zigler ended up placing fourth in the decathlon, and also won the javelin with a 43.47-meter throw. Zigler additionally placed second in the discus.
This weekend, Slippery Rock splits the squad between the Westminster Invite at Westminster College and the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell University.
“It’s crunch time. Everybody has to figure out exactly what they need to do between now and finals week and PSACs,” Papa said. “We’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. As both a student and an athlete here on campus, it’s crunch time.”
