CHESTER, Pa. – Mackenze Spence gave the Lebanon Valley outdoor track and field team a great start to the weekend with a fifth-place finish in the discus at the Widener Invitational on Friday afternoon in Chester. Noah Griffin also broke another school record in the 5,000 meters.
 
Spence had a throw of 37.89 meters to finish fifth in the field of 33. Alyssa Betz just missed the podium with a throw of 35.99 meters to finish ninth. Caroline Reed was 11th with a season-best mark of 33.51 meters. Reed also finished ninth in the shot put with a career-best toss of 11.12 meters. Her mark is eighth in the school record books. Lauren Assante was 12th with a mark of 10.91 meters while Betz had a career-best throw of 10.67 meters to finish 15th. Meghan Bussey threw the shot 10.06 meters.
 
The men had Wyatt Hetrick finish 11th in the discus with a mark of 39.41 meters. Will Fisher had a season-best toss of 36.41 meters. The Dutchmen had four throwers in the shot put. Trey Reynolds had the best mark of the group with a throw of 13.21 meters to finish 11th. Hetrick threw a season-best 12.79 meters while Ian Paul had a mark of 12.60 meters. Cody Shay recorded a MAC qualifying toss of 11.97 meters.
 
The Dutchmen had three women run in the 5,000 meters. Coyla Bartholomew led the trio with a time of 18:50.46 to finish 13th in the field of 44. Anna Donnelly was 25th with a time of 19:49.35 and Aleah Hoffman crossed the line in 20:43.03. Donnelly's time was a new MAC qualifier. Noah Griffin finished third overall out of 115 total finishers in the men's 5,000 meters with a school record time of 14:38.01. He broke the previous record of 15:02.44 that Joel Carpenter ran in 1979. Jordan Berger was 33rd with a time of 15:24.07 while Joe Chukoskie was 40th in 15:34.58. Berger's time is ninth on the program's top 10 list. Sam Rothstein was right behind him in 15:41.08 while Eric Shelton ran 15:57.61. Donnie Miller had a time of 16:23.39 and Joe Pleban crossed the line in 16:45.69. Griffin, Berger, Chukoskie, Rothstein, Shelton, and Miller all qualified for the MAC Championships with their times while Griffin ran an AARTFC qualifying time.
 
The Dutchmen will be right back at Widener bright and early tomorrow morning for a 9 a.m. start.

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