The SRU javelin record, which has been in place since 2004, was broken on Friday at the Bill Lennox Invitational by senior Danielle Collier.
The NCCA qualifying and winning throw was 50.72 meters, which broke the previous record of 49.98 by Karyn McReady in the 2004 season. With the throw, Collier has placed herself inside the top two in the nation with the mark. She also clinched a spot in the Division II National Championships next month.
“Lucky for us [Collier] arrived with a year of eligibility we didn’t know she was going to have,” Head Coach John Papa said. “So she’s thrown that far before, but still that’s a significant effort.”
Along with the record-breaking win, sophomore Trinity Clark and freshman Skylar Sherry joined Collier in the javelin, claiming second and third, and both hitting NCAA provisional marks. Clark hit her season-high 48.78-meter throw. Sherry also hit her season-high with a 43.22-meter throw. Clark now ranks fourth in the nation with her mark, while Sherry is 25th.
“Trinity Clark, our girl who took second, is not that far way from that,” Papa said. “[Clark] is only six feet from that mark. So it’s a great record but it may not stand the test of time.”
In addition to the javelin success, seven more events ended in victories for the team.
Sticking with throwers, sophomore Jena Reinheimer won the discus throw with a 40.67-meter toss. Reinheimer also finished in second with a 49.71-meter throw in the hammer. Behind Reinheimer in the discus was sophomore Rachel Hutchinson who placed second with a 36.47-meter throw. Hutchinson also finished third in the hammer with a 49.05-meter throw.
For the men, junior Alec Morris won the hammer throw with his 52.66-meter mark. Sophomore Dylan Close finished second in the javelin throw with a 54.96-meter toss. In the discus, junior Ryan Ferner finished second with a 44.03-meter throw. Freshman Eric Schultz finished in fourth in the discus with a 42.03-meter throw and finished in third in the shot put with a 13.94-meter throw.
On the track, freshman Shannon Dooley took home the win in the 1,500-meter run with a 4:11.18 time. In the 4×100 meter relay freshman Isaiah Seybert, sophomore Jonathan Marfisi, sophomore Parker Reed, and junior Mitch Vleminckx finished in second with a time of 43.21 seconds. Reed joined senior Gunner Colemen, junior Damion Reed Jr. and sophomore Troy Shattuck in the 4×400 meter relay to finish third in 3:34.03.
In the 4×100 meter relay for the women, the freshman group Samantha Gilbert, Lorna Speigle, Thai-Lin Pierce and junior Reagan Hess joined up to win in 48.89 seconds. In the 4×400-meter relay, senior Courtney Nunley, sophomore Megan Miller and senior Allyson Stizer joined Spegile to finish in second with a time of 4:09.61.
In the distance events, freshman Katie Plassio finished first among women in the 10,000-meter run in 42:15.97. Behind Plassio was freshmen Steph Kellon and Marie Scarpa. Kellon finished in 42:27.18 for second place and Scarpa in third in 42:50.10. Freshman Anna Igims finished second in the 1,500 meter run with a 5:05.51 time. Closing out the distance events was sophomore Julianna Stevens, who finished third in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 19:50.79.
Hess also won the long jump with a 5.60-meter leap. Following Hess was Gibert who hit a 5.09-meter leap to place her in fourth. For the men, freshman Zack Duda finished in second in the triple jump with a 13.65-meter leap. Closing out was a tie in the long jump by Vleminckx and freshman Galvin Thomas. Vleminckx and Thomas both recorded a 6.67-meter leap to tie for fourth.
In the hurdles, Stizer finished in 4th place in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:09.46. For the men, junior Zach Wise finished third in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.04 seconds. Coleman and Reed Jr. finished third and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles. Coleman finished in 57.99 seconds and Reed Jr. finished just behind him with 59.08.
In the sprinting events, sophomore Morgan Donatelli placed third in the 400-meter dash in 1:00.50. Reed also participated in the 200-meter dash and placed fourth in 22.62 seconds. In the 800-meter run, Shattuck placed fifth in 2:01.76.
On Thursday and Friday during the Mike Kowal Multi competition, junior Jason Goodman won the decathlon, scoring 6,146 points. Following Goodman, junior Ryan McQuown came in second with 5,900 points. Papa thinks that the men’s multi squad is strong, one of the biggest strengths of the team.
“Those two guys, there’s a good chance that those two guys will go one, two,” Papa said.
For the women, sophomore Katie Bonczyk finished in fourth in the heptathlon, racking up 3,689 points.
Slippery Rock will host another meet Thursday in the SRU Invitational before preparing for an invite this Sunday at Penn State Behrend.
Papa believes that both teams have their strengths and are a bit different, but thinks that both teams can be in the championship conversation.
“We’re going to be fighting for the championship,” Coach Papa said about the women’s team.
As for the men’s team, Papa said he knows that Shippensburg is heavily favored, but he thinks that gap will be closer when they are on the same field.
“We’re gonna give [Shippensburg] our best shot that’s for sure,” Papa said. “The guys are ready for the challenge.”
