CHESTER, Pa. – Lauren Bunke and Darrian Berkheimer had strong races to highlight a great day for the Lebanon Valley women's outdoor track and field team at the Widener Invitational on Saturday.
 
MAC AND AARTFC QUALIFIERS PLUS OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
Berkheimer qualified for the AARTFC Championships in two different events. She first ran 59.11 seconds in the 400 meters and then was the anchor leg on the 4x400 meter relay team that ran 4:07.52. Alyssa Peiffer, Autumn Garges, and Sierra Kapcsos were the first three legs on the regional championships qualifying team. Bunke ran a career best time of 2:16.61 in the 800 meters. Garges, Kapscos and Coyla Bartholomew all qualified for the MAC Championships in the 800 meters. Garges ran 2:21.08 while Kapcsos finished in 2:21.34 and Bartholomew ran 2:27.35. Bunke had another career best time in the 1500 meters as the graduate student crossed the line in second place with a time of 4:37.38.
 
Melena Koutch finished eighth in the high jump with a height of 1.51 meters (4'11.5"). Rachel Snavely and Sidney Wike finished on the podium in the pole vault as Snavely had a height of 3.10 meters (10'2) to finish sixth and Wike was eighth at 2.80 meters (9'2.25"). Kaitlyn Snyder finished third in the javelin with a huge throw of 34.35 meters (112'8") on her fourth toss. Ashley Bartels was sixth with a throw of 33.62 meters (110'4") on her third attempt.
 
INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Berkheimer moved up from ninth to sixth in the 400 meters record book with her career best time of 59.11 seconds. The 800 meters top 10 had three changes as Bunke moved up to second from third with her career best run of 2:16.61. Garges is now eighth after running 2:21.08 while Kapcsos is right behind her in ninth with a time of 2:21.34. Bunke also moved up in the 1500 meters as her new career best time of 4:37.38 is over five seconds faster than her previous best time and puts her third in the record books after entering the weekend at fourth. The 4x400 meter relay team of Peiffer, Garges, Kapcsos, and Berkheimer ran the eighth-best time in program history with a time of 4:07.52. Caroline Reed moved into the record books in the shot put with a throw of 11.12 meters (36'5.75") on her first attempt. Her mark is eighth on the top 10 list. Snyder moved into the javelin record book at ninth with her throw of 34.35 meters.
 
UP NEXT
LVC will have one more regular season meet next Saturday as the team travels to Shippensburg for the Paul Kaiser Classic.

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