North Carolina University was host to the Raleigh Relays, which saw hundreds of athletes from over 50 schools from Division I, II, and III competing this past weekend.
Slippery Rock’s most impressive performer of the weekend was senior thrower JJ Ollio, who hit the lone NCAA provisional mark of the weekend. Ollio threw the shotput 16.12 meters to claim fifth place in the event. Ollio also hit a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) mark in the discus with a 44.37-meter throw.
The other thrower hitting multiple PSAC provisional marks was senior Anderson Novalin. Novalin placed sixth in the shot put with a 15.89-meter throw, and also took eighth in the discus with a 47.89-meter throw.
The Rock women also had two throwers hit PSAC marks in the shot put, with seniors Anna Frengal and Kelci Yale taking 27th and 32nd, respectively.
Two more Rock throwers hit Provisional marks in the Javelin. Freshman Austin Labesky took 15th with a 52.13-meter throw for the men, and sophomore Elaina Powell placed 18th with a 40.08-meter throw for the women.
Freshman Reagen Hess was the star of the weekend for The Rock women, hitting two individual PSAC marks and an additional relay mark. Hess lept 5.51 meters for a 10th-place finish in the long jump, and also finished 12th in the 100-meter run (12.32 seconds). Sophomore Emily Horstman and freshman Amanda Oliver also hit marks in the 100 meter (12.47 and 12.56 seconds, respectively.)
Hess was part of the 4×100 meter relay team that took 10th place, consisting of Hess, Horstman, Oliver and senior Aerial Dukes. SRU had an additional relay team hit a PSAC mark, the 4×400 meter relay which took 16th, consisting of Horstman, Dukes, senior Madison Przicina and freshman Vanessa Shedlock. Przicina and Shedlock also hit PSAC marks in the 400-meter dash (42nd and 27th, respectively.)
The Rock men also had a successful day in the relay, with both the 4×100 and 4×400 teams hitting PSAC provisional marks. The 4×100 team took seventh with a 42.11 second showing and consisted of junior Collin Darby, sophomore Ian Nieves, freshman Dillon Butz and sophomore Liam Okal.
The 4×400 meter relay finished 11th with a 3:19.81 time and consisted of Darby, Nieves, and seniors Caleb Smithco and James Chandler. Smithco and Chandler hit individual marks in the 400-meter run, taking 31st and 30th, respectively. Okal and Darby hit additional individual marks in the 200 meter with 22.08 and 22.26-second finishes, respectively.
Nieves hit two additional marks on his own in the 110-meter and400-meter hurdles. Nieves took sixth in the 110-meter with a 14.68 second finish, and was followed by freshman Danny Dinh who hit a mark of his own with a 22nd-place finish. Nieves took 11th in the 400-meter hurdles with a 54.90 second finish, and freshman Kyle Wise also hit a provisional mark in the event, taking 14th.
The Rock finished the competition with three additional PSAC provisional marks: senior Jeremy Parsons in the 5,000-meter run (15:16:60), senior Sophie Mazza in the 100-meter hurdles (15.05 seconds) and senior Katie Teed in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.33).
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams will now turn their attention to the annual Dave Labor Invitational this Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium, with events slated to start at 10 a.m. and run through the day.
