The End of April

On the weekend of April 24-26, the team split in several directions, with each group coming away with positive results. Several of the distance men competed at Hillsdale in the famous Gina Relays. Jeramie Parker ran one of the fastest times in the nation with a 3:50.85 mile. Chris Marker ran 14:53 in the 5k to rank him second in the conference behind Parker. Zac Ross ran 32:02 in the 10k, which also ranks him second in the conference behind an Allegheny teammate (Chris Corkins, in this case).

At the same time, several athletes were competing at Oberlin College. Lauren Butler continued her domination of the javelin with another win. Caileigh Hughes improved in the triple jump by several inches. Greg Eyer and Jamie Drab both ran 1:59 in the 800m to squeek under the conference qualifying time. In the 400, Jacob Seigh and Andrew Glod ran new PR's. Perhaps the most impressive performance for the team, Glod returned half an hour later to also run a PR in the 400 hurdles.

On Saturday, the conference championships began with the heptathlon and decathlon competitions. Emily Norton set a new personal best in five of the seven events in the heptathlon. Caileigh Hughes was entering her first ever heptathlon, and had never previously competed in the hurdles or shot put. Cedric Gamble tied his PR in the pole vault, an event in which he is now ranked #1 in the conference, but had his highest point total in the 1500, where he ran an outstanding 4:37. Darryl Overton, who was also competing in his first multi-event, took first in the discus and shot. At the Sunday conclusion, Cedric Gamble was fourth and Darryl Overton seventh for the men. Emily Norton finished in fifth for the women with Caileigh Hughes coming in seventh.



The remaining events in the NCAC Championship will be held this Saturday and Sunday at Ohio Wesleyan.

Sparky Adams Invite

On Saturday, the team enjoyed a beautiful day on Baldwin-Wallace's track and fields. Joe McMahon brought home another victory and improved his national qualfying mark in the triple jump after exceeding 47', and finished second in the long jump. Matt Yurky qualified for conferences in the same events, and Taylor Throckmorton also met the standard in the long jump. Newcomber Dante Briscoe met the conference qualifying standard in only his second high jump. McMahon and Throckmorton combined with Chas Moore-Seymore and Josh Brannan for a third place finish and new season best in the 4x100. Beth Muller was the top Division III finisher and ran the fastest time in the conference for the 400m with a sub-60 performance. Leading the distance runners, Tony Dipre won the 1500 and returned shortly to finish second in the 800m. Chris Marker joined him on the list of conference qualifiers in the 1500m. Sam Zink, Katie Stancik, and Alex Rowland also ran conference qualifiers in the 800m. Lynn Simonton and Kate David both dropped several seconds from their steeplechase bests, with Lynn finishing fourth overall.

The team splits in multiple directions in the upcoming week. A handful of distance runners will travel to Michigan for the Gina Relays. On Friday, several athletes will compete at Oberlin College. The heptathletes and decathletes compete in their conference championship on Saturday and Sunday.

Bison Classic

A small group of athletes travelled to Bucknell for the Bison Classic on April 10-11 with the specific goal of qualifying for championship meets. Those that competed reached that goal, with several athletes posting astounding results. Junior Mia Symoniak ran a huge personal best in the 10k on Friday night to win the invitational section and qualify for the NCAA Championships. At this writing, she stands 6th in the nation in that event. Lauren Butler finished second in javelin with another throw over the national standard. Joe McMahon posted a national qualfiying performance in the triple jump. Jeremy Parker won the open 5k with a 14:50.67, which is currently the best time in the conference and only a few seconds away from a provisional NCAA qualifier. Other conference qualifiers include Pat McLaughlin in his first 10k, Matt Brush in the steeplechase, Josh Brannan and Pete Sotherland in the javelin, Cedric Gamble in the pole vault, Ryan Sullivan in the 5k, Alex Gorski in the 800, and Chris Corkins with the fastest time in the conference in the 10k.

Marv Frye Invite

On April 5th, the track and field team competed at the Marv Frye Invite, producing numerous top finishes and conference qualifiers. Senior Joe McMahon continued his great year in the triple jump with another win. In his first triple jump competition ever, converted basketball player Dante Briscoe finished fifth and qualified for the conference meet. Pete Sotherland finished third in the pole vault, but his clearance currently leads the conference. Senior Chas Moore-Seymore ran a conference qualifier in both the 100m and 200m in his first meet of the year. Josh Brannan finished third in the 100m, fourth in the 200m, and anchored the 4x100 team that came out of the slow heat to finish third. In the 100m, Josh ran an 11.02, which is currently the fastest time in the conference, while the winner finished just ahead in 11.00. Matt Lacombe squeked under the conference standard in the 5k to give Allegheny 5 men on the list.

The women were led by Lauren Butler, who remains undefeated in the javelin after three meets. Lauren has surpassed the NCAA provisional mark each time, and has also qualified for the USATF Junior National meet in June at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. To start the running events, Kate David and Lynn Simonton both ran new PR's in the steeplechase, with Lynn qualifying for thte conference meet. Beth Muller finished third in the 100m and fifth in the 200m in her first meet of the season. She is currently ranked second in the conference in both events.

The next meet on the schedule will be a Bucknell's Bison Classic, where a limited roster will compete. The whole team will be travelling to Baldwin-Wallace in two weeks.