NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Recap
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PSAC student-athletes are competing this weekend at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Below is a day-by-day recap of the PSAC highlights of the meet.
Saturday, May 23
Representatives from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference concluded competition at the 2009 NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship. SU’s Josh Hostetler and Glenn Bell, ESU’s Ken Cardullo and Bill Buis, Cal’s Ryan Schleicher, EU’s Davaun Stedge, and IUP’s Russell Langley all participated in the javelin throw. Hostetler and Bell achieved All-American status with their throws of 64.53m and 59.95m respectively.
On the women's side, IUP's Tiffany Corle competed in the javelin throw and attained a result of 43.13m. She placed 8th in the finals to achieve All-American status.
The men's discus throw and women's high jump concluded the field events. Mansfield's Mike Gray placed 11th in the discus throw at 45.72m. ESU's Janelle Smith, SRU's Whitney Hendershot, and LHU's Chelsea Morse just missed All-American status in the high jump. Smith placed 10th and Hendershot place 11th both at a distance of 1.68m. Morse took 13th with a jump of 1.63m.
PSAC athletes also competed in various track finals. IUP's Kevin Raymond captured 5th place in the 400 meter dash. He finished at 46.77s. In the 5000 meter run, California's Christopher Clark placed 8th at 14:32.45 while Slippery Rock's Jeff Weiss placed 15th at 14:48.45. LHU's Nick Hilton was a participant in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Hilton took 12th at a time of 9:39.75. Representing the 4x100 relay was IUP's team placing 8th.
For the women, IUP’s Maddy Outman placed 6th in the 400 meter hurdles at 1:01.19. Shippensburg’s Neely Spence, Millerville’s Priscilla Jennings, Edinboro’s Tina Yi, and Clarion’s Erin Richard appeared in the 5000 meter run. Spence dominated the event by seizing 1st place with a time of 16:35.26. Ship was also represented by Mary Dell and Abagail Huber in the 1500 meter run. Dell took 6th at 4:33.38 and Huber took 12th at 4:45.99. Taking part in the 4x400 relay was Slippery Rock and Shippensburg. Both placed 7th and 8th respectively.
Friday, May 22
In conclusion of the women’s heptathlon, Millersville’s Michele Frayne finished 13th with 4564 points. Frayne’s highlight in the event was the javelin throw when she placed 4th with her best toss of 36.34m.
IUP’s Brianna Liebold finished one spot shy of All-American status in the triple jump coming in at 9th place. Liebold recorded her best jump at 11.87m. Cheyney’s Stephanie Orji also competed in the event placing 16th with a jump of 11.47m.
PSAC athlete Andrew Batula achieved All-American status in the high jump for Shippensburg. Batula recorded a jump of 2.07m which finished him 8th in the finals.
Championship action will continue Saturday for numerous PSAC athletes. The PSAC will see representation in the field events of the men’s pole vault, discus, and javelin throw, as well as the women’s high jump and javelin throw. Qualifying athletes will also contend in the track finals.
Thursday, May 21
IUP's Nafee Harris claimed the individual event national championship in the men's long jump to highlight the first day of the championships for the PSAC's representatives. Harris leaped 26-1.75 to narrowly claim the national championship by just over two inches over the second place finisher.
The PSAC also got another All-American performance on the men's side from East Stroudsburg's Paul Wagner in the hammer throw as he placed sixth. The PSAC had two All-Americans in the men's 10,000 meters as Jeff Weiss of Slippery Rock finished fifth and California (Pa.)'s Chris Clark took eighth. In the women's 10,000 meters, although no PSAC athletes scored points by finishing in the top eight, four finished in the top 16. The PSAC placed in 10th-13th, led by Edinboro's Tina Yi in 10th. Jennifer Harpp of Slippery Rock came in 11th, Erin Richard of Clarion took 12th, and Rachael Lanzel of Edinboro finished 13th.
Several track preliminary events were held on Thursday as well. All track event finals, with the exception of the distance events run on Thursday, will be contested on Saturday. In the half-completed women's heptathlon, IUP's Maddy Outman, the NCAA Indoor champion in the pentathlon, is currently in 11th place overall with three more events to come on Friday. Outman came in second in the 100-meter hurdles event of the heptathlon and fifth in the 200-meter dash portion of the event.