Track and Field Has Big Weekend at Mount
Union, Prepares for ECACs
The Penn State Behrend men's and women's track and field
team rounded out their indoor track regular season Saturday, February
25 at Mount Union. The team set four new school records, had
five individuals qualify for ECACs and one provisionally qualify for
the NCAA tournament.
Staci Banaszek (Erie/Harborcreek) provisionally qualified for the NCAA tournament in the women's high jump when she tied her school record with a jump of 5' 5". Banaszek also qualified for the ECACs in the women's long jump, setting a school record in the process, with a leap of 17'1.5". Both Leisl Soergel (Evans City/Butler) and Kim Chapman (Cranberry Township/Seneca Valley) qualified for the ECACs in the 500-meter dash. Soergel won the event with a time of 1:22.98, while Chapman was a mere three-hundreths of a second behind her at 1:23.01. Jaylan Giuliano (Harmony/Seneca Valley) broke a five-year-old record in the women's 400-meter dash by in 1:02.47.
On the men's side Harry Balwick (Erie/McDowell) broke his own school record from a year ago in the 1-mile run. Balwick finished the mile in 4:35.56. Fellow cross-country teammate of Balwick's, Brad Ruffo (West Middlesex/West Middlesex) also broke a distance running record. Ruffo finished the 3000-meter run in a Behrend record time of 9:03.87.
"The Mount Union meet was a good finish to our season. We had four Behrend records, totaling seven on the season. Another ECAC qualifier means we will be bringing five to Ursinus next weekend," said coach Cooper.
Track and field travels to Ursinus College Friday, March 3 for the ECAC Championships before leaving Sunday, March 5 for the Disney Relays in Orlando, Florida. The Relays will mark the beginning of the outdoor track season.
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