Track and Field Headed to ECAC Championships
The Penn State Behrend Track and Field team is preparing for the ECAC Championships, to be held at Springfield College in Springfield Massachusetts on May 19-20. Behrend had fifteen athletes qualify for the meet during the regular season.
Isiah Meek (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) is making the trip in three events. Meek qualified individually in the 110 meter high hurdles with a time of 14.87, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Meek will also compete on the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays. The 4x400 team, which has run 3:24.70, is also made up of Mike Barlett (Erie/Iroquois), Kevin Shugars (Wexford/North Allegheny), and Joe Wilcher (Irwin/Penn Trafford). Along with Meek, the 44.51 second 4x100 team consists of Shane Rock (McKean/General McLane), Dennis Scheuer (McKean/General McLane), and Francis Kargbo. Rock and Scheuer were also individual qualifiers, Rock in the triple jump with a mark of 43'9.25" and Scheuer in the 400 hurdles with a time of 57.00. Donnie Hackworth (Monroeville/Gateway) was a qualifier in the pole vault, with a best this year of 14'6". Nick McGrady (Pittsburgh/Chartiers Valley) and Dan Mitchell (Bloomsburg/Bloomsburg) both qualified in the javelin. McGrady's best this year is 174'2" and Mitchell's is 179'10".
Staci Banaszek (Erie/Harborcreek) qualified in three field events, all with school record performances. Banaszek qualified in the triple jump with a mark of 36'8", in the high jump with a best of 5'3.75", and in the long jump with a distance of 17'1". Becky Gonzalez (Morrisville/Piscataway) qualified in the 100 meter dash, the 100 meter high hurdles, and the 4x400 meter relay. Her best in the 100 dash was 12.90, while her top hurdle performance of the year was a school record 15.84. The 4x400, which ran a school record 4:10.00, is also made up of Nikki Mineweaser (Warren/Warren), Erica Smith (Polk/Franklin), and Leisl Soergel (Evans City/Butler). Soergel also qualified individually with a school record time of 2:20.88 in the 800 meter run.
The men's pole vault, javelin, and 110 meter hurdle preliminaries will take place Thursday, May 19, along with the preliminaries of the women's 100 meter dash and 100 meter hurdles. All Behrend athletes not competing in those events will first compete on Friday, May 20. The meet begins on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and on Friday at 10:00 a.m. Head coach Dave Cooper has high expectations for the team after thirteen athletes placed at the Indoor ECAC Championships.
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