The Slippery Rock University men’s and women’s outdoor track team split up and participated in meets at Bucknell and Westminster University and recorded 44 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference qualifying marks (PSAC) and four NCAA marks over the weekend.
“It’s a good thing to do because it helps us to get ready for our conference championships,” said Coach Papa, commenting on competing against some of the athletes at Bucknell.
Senior JJ Ollio recorded the only NCAA mark for the men this weekend as he placed eighth in the shot put with a 16.49-meter throw. Ollio went on to also get PSAC marks in both the discus and hammer throw.
For the women, junior Maddy Marshall and redshirt senior Courtney McQuaide repeat their one-two punch as the Marshall won while hit an NCAA mark with her season-best 3.90-meter clearance. McQuaide, finishing second, also hit her season best as well as hitting an NCAA mark with her 3.75-meter clearance.
Junior Elaina Powell closed out the NCAA marks with her fifth-place season-high javelin throw of 42.87-meter toss. Powell was followed by freshman Lauren Naylor, who finished thirteenth with a 36.99-meter throw.
Moving onto the track, sophomore Zach Wise led the way as he placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdle at Bucknell and finished in 15.20 seconds. Junior Kyle Edgar and junior Gunner Coleman hit PSAC marks in the 400-meter hurdles. Edgar finished eighth with a 55.30 second time and Coleman with a 57.38 second time.
For the women, they brought home just one PSAC mark on the track from Westminster as junior Kadin Hinish placed third in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.87 seconds.
“Whether they were at Bucknall or at Westminster everybody had a great opportunity to compete and to go for a personal best,” Papa said.
At Bucknell for the women in the 800-meter field junior Kacey Raible recorded her season-best time of 2:5.40. Behind Raible was senior Madison Przicina who finished in 2:16.98, junior Jill Norris in 2:22.64 and junior Bri Witherel in 2:23.44. Raible also recorded her season-best in the 1,500-meter run as she placed sixteenth in 4:43.18. She was joined by junior Hannah Kenawell who also hit her season-best time of 4:55.49.
Back to the men, junior Daniel Janyska recorded a PSAC mark time of 4:00.10 in the 1,500-meter run and in the 3,000 steeplechase redshirt sophomore Jay Nelson also recorded a PSAC mark with his time of 9:41.66. At the Westminster 3,000-meter steeplechase freshman Ben Buckless placed second in 10:12.11.
Continuing on the track senior Sabrina Palmieri finished fifth in the 5,000 meter-run in 18:14.76. Sophomore Juliet Ryan and Norris also both recorded PSAC marks in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as Ryan finished in 11:16.15 for nineteenth place and Norris was twenty-fourth in 11:30.33.
Ending things on the track, senior Caleb Smithco and freshman Parker Reed joined Coleman and Edgar to place third in the 4×400-meter relay in 3:24.92. In the 4×100-meter relay Reed, senior Jesse Romanchak, junior Liam Okai and senior Collin Darby placed sixth in 42.15 seconds.
Closing things out on the track for the women was junior Emily Horstman placed fourth in the 100-meter dash in 12.28. Sophomore Reagan Hess, sophomore Amanda Oliver and senior Megan Stephenson joined Horstman to place second in the 4×100-meter relay in 47.33 seconds. In the 400-meter dash sophomore Alexis Marchando and junior Brenna Kloes recorded PSAC marks as Marchando finished in 1:00.10 to place twenty-second and Kloes placed twenty-third in 1:00.16 seconds. They also joined Przicina, Freshman Courtney Nunley to place fifth in the 4×400 meter relay in 4:03.60.
Back throwing Ollio was joined by sophomore Austin Labesky and freshman Dylan Close. Both hit marks in the javelin throw, as Labesky placed thirteenth, he threw a 55.31-meter javelin and Close with a 54.56-meter fifteenth place throw.
Throwing for the women, senior Rachel Demaria placed second with a 12.26-meter shot put throw. Demaria also threw in discus to record a third-place finish with her throw of 37.79 meters. junior Abby Way brought home three PSAC marks, starting with the hammer throw. Way placed third in the hammer throw with a 45.12-meter throw, 11.83-meter fifth-place finish in the shot put and an eighth-place finish in discus with a 35.23-meter throw. Junior Kati Palski joined Way in the hammer throw and recorded a fourth-place 43.35-meter throw.
Jumping for the men’s team, Smithco and Romanchak both recorded PSAC marks in the triple jump. Smithco finished with a 14.22-meter leap to place seventh and Romanchak placed eleventh with his 13.59-meter leap.
For the women, Hess was the lone jumper as she recorded a PSAC mark in the long jump with a third-place 5.59-meter leap.
Closing things out for the men is freshman Jakob Graff who cleared 4.00 meters in the pole vault and placed fourteenth. For the women, freshman Megan Miller also placed fourteenth as she finished in 15.84 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and twenty-third in 1:06.68 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.
The team continues their busy outdoor season as they will host the SRU open this Thursday. As well as their two-day event at Ashland University on Friday and Saturday.
Coach Papa added that the Thursday meet might be small as it is Easter weekend however, he doesn’t think that will change anything from the standpoint of the team and wanting to perform a high level.
“Even these little meets we’ve had some great performances,” Papa said.
