Over the weekend, the Slippery Rock women’s track and field team competed at both the Bucknell Outdoor Classic and the Westminster Invitational. Two different meets would not stop these athletes from excelling. The team would record a grand total of 27 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifying marks and four NCAA provisional marks.
They would take home 17 PSAC marks at Bucknell. At Westminster, they would tally 10 PSAC qualifiers. At each meet, they earned two NCAA provisional markings.
With the majority of the track athletes competing at Bucknell, the field athletes were left to compete at Westminster.
Having a career day was senior distance runner Jenny Picot. She would show blazing speed with a personal best, NCAA provisional mark and a Slippery Rock record with a recorded time of 16:45.80, earning herself a fifth place finish in the 5,000-meter run.
In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Kennedy Evans was able to place second with a time of 1:01.21, an NCAA provisional time.
The Rock’s relay teams would have a strong showing at Bucknell. The team of junior Sabrina Anderson, senior Jasmine Bailey, freshman Jaiah Williams and graduate student Katelyn Wetzel would compete and finish third in the 4 x 100-meter relay posting a time of 47.20.
Earning a second place finish in the 4 x 400-meter relay was the team of Evans, senior Casaundra Swartzbaugh, sophomore Aerial Dukes and Anderson with a recorded time of 3:54.21.
In the 4 x 800 meter relay, the team of sophomores Caitlyn Janeda and Melissa Rains, senior Jessica Bennett and junior Alexis Swiergol would take sixth place at 9:40.25.
SRU head coach John Papa thought there were several strong performers on the track.
“Jenny Picot breaking the school record was very significant to us, as she had a very fast day which got us really excited,” Papa said. “Kennedy Evans showing in the 400-meters was a personal best and key to our success in earning victories which then translated into points.”
In the 100-meter hurdles, sophomore Sophie Mazza would cruise to a fifth place finish at a time of 14.87. In the 400-meter dash, senior standout Jasmine Bailey would take third place at a time of 56.37.
At Westminster, senior Sam Taylor would continue her first place dominance in the javelin. She would throw for a distance of 44.22 meters to win the event and earn an NCAA provisional mark.
Taking care of business in the pole vault was senior Kaitlyn Clark, who launched herself to a clearing height of 3.80 meters, also an NCAA provisional clearance.
“Sam Taylor is the best javelin thrower in Western Pa at any level, division one, division two, division three, she stays consistently good all around,” Papa said.
Dominating the high jump were seniors Paige Kassab and Ashley West. Kassab would take first place in the event with a leap of 1.66 meters. Falling right behind her in second place was West with her jump of 1.61 meters.
Having strong throwing days for The Rock were sophomore Anna Frengel and junior Kelci Yale. Frengel would take home two second place finishes, with her throw of 41.88 meters in the hammer throw earning her one of them. In the shot put, Frengel would have a toss of 12.91 meters. Yale’s heave of 11.79 meters in the shot put would place her fourth in the event.
After a strong weekend showing the women get back at it April 21 at home for the SRU Open.
