SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley College track and field team had an excellent start to the outdoor season on Saturday posting 34 Middle Atlantic Conference qualifying times and marks despite competing in adverse weather conditions throughout the day.
"Early outdoor season meets can be a challenge but even though we battled rain, snow, wind, and cold I was impressed with how we competed at our first meet." head coach
Melissa Byler had to say about the performances of the team. "We outperformed my expectations and had some standout performances. We are ready to get back to work at practice next week to continue to fine-tune technique, build strength and confidence."
TOP FINISHERS
Keri Jones finished fourth in the women's 5,000 meters with a time of 18:35.98. She was just 14 seconds off her career-best outdoor time and is ranked fourth in the MAC so far this year.
Zach Reed finished fourth in the men's 110 hurdles with a career-best time of 15.56 seconds which is the fastest in the MAC this year. He qualified for the finals with a time of 15.94 seconds in the preliminaries. Reed also finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.89 seconds.
Logan Grauer was second in 56.41 seconds. Grauer and Reed have the two fastest times in the conference so far.
Melena Koutch and
Caleb Cekella both finished sixth in the high jump. Koutch jumped 1.55 meters (5'1) while Cekella reached a height of 1.85 meters (6'0.75"). Koutch's height is second in the conference while Cekella's is third.
Josh Otto had a mark of 6.04 meters (19'9.75") to finish eighth in the men's long jump. He recorded his mark on his second jump of the day. In the throws,
Mackenze Spence finished fourth in the women's discus with a toss of 36.78 meters (120'8) on her first attempt. That mark puts her fourth in the MAC.
INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Spence's toss in the discus was a career-best. She is currently third in the program's top 10 list.
Sidney Wike moved into a three-way tie for eighth in the pole vault with a height of 2.90 meters (9'6.25").
MAC QUALIFIED
The following student-athletes qualified for the MAC Championships on Saturday. Listed are their current ranks in the MAC and their qualifying result. Results in bold have also qualified for the AARTFC Championships.
100 Meters (Men)
5
Owen Linder 11.44
100 Meters (Women)
7
Hannah McCurdy 13.13
14
Laura Good 13.58
16
Alyssa Peiffer 13.6
200 Meters (Women)
5
Darrian Berkheimer 27.24
8
Hannah McCurdy 27.4
11
Laura Good 27.74
400 Meters (Women)
7
Darrian Berkheimer 01:03.0
5000 Meters (Men)
8
Vinny Ferrizzi 16:02.5
5000 Meters (Women)
4 Keri Jones 18:36.0
110 Hurdles (Men)
1 Zach Reed 15.56
4
Daniel Murtha 16.52
400 Hurdles (Men)
1 Logan Grauer 56.41
2
Zach Reed 57.89
400 Hurdles (Women)
3
Alyssa Peiffer 01:14.6
High Jump (Men)
3
Caleb Cekella 1.85m
High Jump (Women)
2 Melena Koutch 1.55m
Pole Vault (Men)
3
Darren Rodoff 3.80m
3
Ayden Stankus 3.80m
Pole Vault (Women)
3
Sidney Wike 2.90m
Long Jump (Men)
5
Josh Otto 6.04m
6
Eddie Myers 6.00m
Triple Jump (Men)
7
Eddie Myers 12.18m
7
Josh Otto 12.18m
9
Robert Shoff 12.08m
Triple Jump (Women)
7
Olivia Sensenig 10.15m
10
Haley Thunberg 9.54m
Discus (Men)
8
Aonghas Evanick 36.81m
Discus (Women)
4 Mackenze Spence 36.78m
8
Alyssa Betz 31.74m
Javelin (Men)
5
Ian Paul 49.06m
Javelin (Women)
7
Ashley Bartels 32.86m
12
McKenna Loughney 29.09m
15
Kayla Kauffman 27.55m
What's Next
The Dutchmen will head to Millersville next Saturday for the Millersville Metrics.
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