The Slippery Rock women’s indoor track team had a very successful weekend at the Al Hall Freedom Games last Saturday hosted by Edinboro University. Freshman sprinter/jumper Reagan Hess, sophomore pole vaulter Maddy Marshall, senior pole vaulter Courtney McQuaide, and senior thrower Kelci Yale led the Rock to two NCAA provisional requirements, 22 PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) qualifications, and 9 individual event wins.
Fresh off of winter break, The Rock came out well-rested and motivated to make the final push to win head coach John Papa’s sixth PSAC conference championship. The pole vaulters once again stole the show with McQuaide and Marshall tying for first in the pole vault with a height of 3.85 meters. Both earned NCAA provisional marks.
Senior pole vaulter Maria Darling and junior pole vaulter Roxanne Dunn finished tied for third place with a height of 3.35 meters while sophomore pole vaulter Erika Thomas finished sixth with a height of 3.20 meters. All these marks earned PSAC qualification marks.
The sprinters and mid-distance runners ran well on Saturday headlined by two mid-distance relays finishing first. Hess, freshman sprinter Vanessa Shedlock, freshman sprinter Amanda Oliver, and sophomore sprinter Emily Horstman finished first in the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 4:03.35. Senior distance runner Caitlyn Janeda, freshman sprinter Alexis Marchando, mid-distance runner Kacey Raible, and junior distance runner Madison Przicina finished first in the distance medley relay with a time of 12:50.91.
The Rock finished first, second, and third in the 60-meter dash with Hess finishing first at 7.75 seconds, Horstman second at 7.82 seconds, and Oliver third at 8.07 seconds. Horstman also finished first in the 200-meter sprint with a time of 25.99 seconds while senior hurdler Sophie Mazza finished first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.18 seconds. Janeda and Przicina finished second and third in the mile run with times of 5:13.61 and 5:20.04, respectively.
The jumpers put in an impressive performance, finishing first and second in the long and triple jump on Saturday. Hess and freshman jumper Lexi Salopek finished first and second in the long jump with distances of 5.58 meters and 5.13 meters, respectively. Shedlock and Salopek finished first and second in the triple jump with distances of 11.30 meters and 10.37 meters, respectively.
Finishing the meet off strong, the throwers put in strong performances in the shot put and weight throw. Freshman thrower Hannah Pitchford and senior thrower Anna Frengel finished second and third in the shot put with distances of 12.99 meters and 12.53 meters, respectively. Kelci Yale finished fifth with a distance of 11.90 meters. In the weight throw, Yale finished second with a distance of 15.16 meters. Frengel and sophomore thrower Abby Way finished fifth and sixth with distances of 13.49 meters and 13.24 meters, respectively.
The Rock travels to Youngstown, Ohio next weekend for the YSU National Invite on Friday and Saturday. The meet will be a good chance to see how the women’s track team compares to more teams from around the region.
