Followers of track and field know that in this sport, it's not always the place that matters most, it is the time. Especially when there is such intermingling between divisions. Track and field is such a fortunate sport where division III is able to compete against division I and division II schools because it is such an individual sport, where the harder you work, the faster, or stronger, you will become regardless of division.
This weekend, the Allegheny Gator men took advantage of superb competition and an oversized track and raced to their potential. Highlighting the meet was Andrew Mahone (class of 2011) in his 1:55.23 800 meter race which broke the indoor school record of 1:56.13 set in 2007.
Tony Dipre started strong in the 3000 meter run and finished a mere 4 seconds off the school record in 8:25.70, which placed him 3rd overall. Ryan Hanson followed shortly after in 8:45.19.
Benjamin Eyer led a strong troop of milers in 4:20.21, a new PR and 8th place, and finished a great double with an 800 time of 1:57.5, also a new PR. Zac Ross and Mike Vlah, each also running the mile/800 double, finishing in (4:21.70 / 2:01.59) and (4:24.96 / 2:02.9), respectively.
Christopher Marker, an outdoor all-american in the 5000 meter race, ran his first race of the indoor season after overcoming a knee injury in 15:21.04 for the 5000 meter, which placed him 9th overall. Ryan Sullivan and Pat McLaughlin also ran the 5000 meter and both of them set PRs in 15:29.88 and 15:32.72, respectively.
Also, Taylor "the rocket" Throckmorton sharpened his legs for the upcoming NCAC meet and ran a 50.20 400 meter race.
The Lady Gators also ran well, setting themselves up well going into the week before the NCAC meet. Mia Symoniak and Kelly Gallagher each ran the 3000 meter race. Symoniak finished strong in 10:22.01 in 5th place, while Gallagher, continuing her strong freshman year, finished in a PR of 10:51.59 in 19th place. Samantha Zink raced her way to an 11th place finish in 3:04.85 in the 1000 meter race and doubled strong with the 800 meter race in 14th place with a time of 2:22.15.
On the field, Lauren Butler launched the shot put 39 feet, 5 3/4 inches, placing her 11th place. While Holly Wilson steadily improving throughout her freshman year, took 15th place overall in the triple jump with a distance of 33-3 1/4.
The majority of the Gators are looking forward to a down weekend to rest up before the conference meet at Denison University on 3/5-3/6, while the men's DMR is looking to improve on their time and secure a spot on the national qualifing list at Anderson University this upcoming weekend.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Boston Valentine Invite
There is no better way to spend the most romantic weekend of the year than at a track meet. Some do flowers, some chocolates, Allegheny Track and Field does what it does best, run fast and throw far.
The first day of action started off on the right foot as the gator men qualified provisionally for the NCAA National Championship in the DMR (Zac Ross, Taylor Throckmorton, Ryan Hanson, Tony Dipre), finishing 6th overall with a time of 10:03.32 with a solid finishing leg by Tony Dipre. The rest of the day was filled with womans races.
Lauren Butler (last year an all-american in her specialty: the javelin) switched gears to the Shotput and heaved to a whopping 38-10.25 which led her to 9th place overall. Rallying once more for the Weight Throw shortly after the Shotput, Butler launched the heavy weight 41-01.5 placing her 23rd overall.
In the shotest race of the day, Beth Muller cruised to a 7.74 in the 55m dash which placed her 48th overall. Getting the most out of the day, Muller completed the one lap 200 meter dash in 26.66 which garnered her 65th place.
The meet picked up for the ladies One Mile race, the crowds favorite race of the day. Sam Zink finished with a killer kick, winning her heat, in 5:15.05 and the 4th fastest mile in the NCAC. Katie Stancik, despite being afflicted with bronchitis, finished with the 5th fastest time in the NCAC in 5:17.83. They were 46th and 56th overall, respectively.
The first day of action finished with the longest distance raced indoors, the 5000 meters. 25 laps of fun. Mia Symoniak, outdoor national qualifier in the 10,000, hoped for an indoor national qualifing time but fell just .88 sec away from the provisional mark, despite a strong finish, in 17:40.88. This time was fast enough for a 13th place overall finish. Kelly Gallagher also competed in this event. Her first time ever racing a 5000 meter race on a track, let alone indoors, she strode her way to an NCAC qualifing time of 18:48.77, which placed her 42nd overall.
The first day of track and field was over. Day two was left to the gentlemen and the ladies DMR.
The first event of the day was the women's DMR (Katie Stancik, Beth Muller, Sam Zink, Mia Symoniak) which placed 19th over in a time of 12:47.69.
Taylor, the two lap specialist, Throckmorton was the first of the men up for the day with the 400 meter dash which he completed in 50.73 which placed him 78th place overall.
The rest of the men competing were all entered in the mile. First up was Tony Dipre. After watching a sub-4 minute mile by a sophomore from the University of Maine, Tony took the line in heat 3. Negative splitting from the first half of his race, and closing in a 60 second last lap, Tony powered his way to the 4th fastest time in the country for Division III in a 4:10.28 which placed him 15th overall, improving upon his 35th ranked seed time. Ryan Hanson and Benjamin Richard Eyer set the hot pace early in their race, distancing themselves from the rest of the field and finishing in 4:21.5 and 4:22.16, respectively, improving 60 places from the seed time in 73rd and 75th overall. Zac Ross finished out the day in 96th place overall in 4:24.78.
With another day comes another dollar and the Allegheny Gators, finished with an exhausting weekend of racing, headed back to the hotel to rest up for one more night only to rise early and head back home to Meadville, Pennsylvania early in the morning to get back on the academic and athletic grind.
(Watch Tony Dipre's 4:10.28, 4th fastest mile time in NCAA Div. III here!)
http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236483/298297
Track and Field Videos on Flotrack
The first day of action started off on the right foot as the gator men qualified provisionally for the NCAA National Championship in the DMR (Zac Ross, Taylor Throckmorton, Ryan Hanson, Tony Dipre), finishing 6th overall with a time of 10:03.32 with a solid finishing leg by Tony Dipre. The rest of the day was filled with womans races.
Lauren Butler (last year an all-american in her specialty: the javelin) switched gears to the Shotput and heaved to a whopping 38-10.25 which led her to 9th place overall. Rallying once more for the Weight Throw shortly after the Shotput, Butler launched the heavy weight 41-01.5 placing her 23rd overall.
In the shotest race of the day, Beth Muller cruised to a 7.74 in the 55m dash which placed her 48th overall. Getting the most out of the day, Muller completed the one lap 200 meter dash in 26.66 which garnered her 65th place.
The meet picked up for the ladies One Mile race, the crowds favorite race of the day. Sam Zink finished with a killer kick, winning her heat, in 5:15.05 and the 4th fastest mile in the NCAC. Katie Stancik, despite being afflicted with bronchitis, finished with the 5th fastest time in the NCAC in 5:17.83. They were 46th and 56th overall, respectively.
The first day of action finished with the longest distance raced indoors, the 5000 meters. 25 laps of fun. Mia Symoniak, outdoor national qualifier in the 10,000, hoped for an indoor national qualifing time but fell just .88 sec away from the provisional mark, despite a strong finish, in 17:40.88. This time was fast enough for a 13th place overall finish. Kelly Gallagher also competed in this event. Her first time ever racing a 5000 meter race on a track, let alone indoors, she strode her way to an NCAC qualifing time of 18:48.77, which placed her 42nd overall.
The first day of track and field was over. Day two was left to the gentlemen and the ladies DMR.
The first event of the day was the women's DMR (Katie Stancik, Beth Muller, Sam Zink, Mia Symoniak) which placed 19th over in a time of 12:47.69.
Taylor, the two lap specialist, Throckmorton was the first of the men up for the day with the 400 meter dash which he completed in 50.73 which placed him 78th place overall.
The rest of the men competing were all entered in the mile. First up was Tony Dipre. After watching a sub-4 minute mile by a sophomore from the University of Maine, Tony took the line in heat 3. Negative splitting from the first half of his race, and closing in a 60 second last lap, Tony powered his way to the 4th fastest time in the country for Division III in a 4:10.28 which placed him 15th overall, improving upon his 35th ranked seed time. Ryan Hanson and Benjamin Richard Eyer set the hot pace early in their race, distancing themselves from the rest of the field and finishing in 4:21.5 and 4:22.16, respectively, improving 60 places from the seed time in 73rd and 75th overall. Zac Ross finished out the day in 96th place overall in 4:24.78.
With another day comes another dollar and the Allegheny Gators, finished with an exhausting weekend of racing, headed back to the hotel to rest up for one more night only to rise early and head back home to Meadville, Pennsylvania early in the morning to get back on the academic and athletic grind.
(Watch Tony Dipre's 4:10.28, 4th fastest mile time in NCAA Div. III here!)
http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236483/298297
Track and Field Videos on Flotrack
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Jim Wuske Invitational
In track and field, success can be the result of winning or setting a new personal record. On Saturday, the Gators did both. Lauren Butler had her furthest throw of the year to win the shot put. Fellow thrower Kristen Collins and heptathlete Emily Norton set new personal records in the event. Beth Muller is running faster than she ever has at this time of year. Her performances this weekend rank her 1st in the conference in the 55m and 2nd in the 200m. Hannah Smith and Holly Wilson both improved on their best triple jump performances this year.
The distance events were dominated by blue and gold. Zac Ross and Mia Symoniak won the 3k's and qualified for the conference championships. Ryan Sullivan (3rd place) and Pat McLaughlin (4th) also ran fast enough in the 3k to qualify for conferences. In the mile, Tony Dipre won by more than 4 seconds. Mike Vlah (3rd place), Ryan Hanson (4th), and Ben Eyer (5th) all improved on their season bests, with Ben adding his name to the others on the conference qualifiers list. In the women's race, Sam Zink ran a huge season best to finish 2nd and qualify for the conference meet. Andrew Mahone continued his steady improvement by cutting another 2.48 seconds off this season's 800m time. In the 5k, Katie Stancik and Emily Dunn went 1-2, while Matt Lacombe finished 3rd for the men. Also in the race, senior Mike Faix set a new PR.
If the weather cooperates, the Distance Medley Relays and Lauren Butler will compete at Boston on Friday and Saturday. The whole team returns to action at Kent State in 2 weeks.
Watch Beth Muller (lane 3) run the 55m trials at the Jim Wuske Invitational:
The distance events were dominated by blue and gold. Zac Ross and Mia Symoniak won the 3k's and qualified for the conference championships. Ryan Sullivan (3rd place) and Pat McLaughlin (4th) also ran fast enough in the 3k to qualify for conferences. In the mile, Tony Dipre won by more than 4 seconds. Mike Vlah (3rd place), Ryan Hanson (4th), and Ben Eyer (5th) all improved on their season bests, with Ben adding his name to the others on the conference qualifiers list. In the women's race, Sam Zink ran a huge season best to finish 2nd and qualify for the conference meet. Andrew Mahone continued his steady improvement by cutting another 2.48 seconds off this season's 800m time. In the 5k, Katie Stancik and Emily Dunn went 1-2, while Matt Lacombe finished 3rd for the men. Also in the race, senior Mike Faix set a new PR.
If the weather cooperates, the Distance Medley Relays and Lauren Butler will compete at Boston on Friday and Saturday. The whole team returns to action at Kent State in 2 weeks.
Watch Beth Muller (lane 3) run the 55m trials at the Jim Wuske Invitational:
Thursday, February 4, 2010
NCAC Relays
Last Saturday, the teams traveled to Denison University for the North Coast Athletic Conference relay meet. The men's team showed their power up front by winning the 5,000m relay and the Distance Medley Relay (DMR). In the longest relay, Zac Ross won the individual event and the relay by running the 5k in a time of 15:28.81, which is currently the fastest time in the conference. Relay teammate Pat McLaughlin also ran a 5k time that qualifies him for the conference championships. The DMR team of Ben Eyer, Taylor Throckmorton, Ryan Hanson, and Tony Dipre ran the 5th fastest time in the country to set a new meet record.
While the men's team had great star power, the women demonstrated their depth by placing well in a huge variety of events. Mia Symoniak (pictured above) ran comfortably in the first mile of the 5k before dropping her competition. Her time of 18:33.28 won the event by more than 30 seconds and is currently the fastest in the conference. In the shot put relay, Kristen Collins and Lauren Butler both threw season bests to finish second as a relay. Lauren also finished 2nd individually. The 55m hurdle relay of Emily Norton and Hannah Smith finished 2nd. Hannah returned later to help power the triple jump relay to a 2nd place finish. She was joined by freshman Holly Wilson, who had her first conference qualifying performance. Two other freshman showed promise in the distance events. Hannah Serlin and Sara Mitrano were joined by veterans Sam Zink and Katie Stancik in the 4x 800m, which finished 2nd overall.
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