For the second straight week, West Chester’s track and field teams put on solid performances, especially in the field events. They competed in the Danny Curran Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Widener University in Chester, Pa.
While no Golden Ram managed to win an event, that didn’t mean that some athletes didn’t accomplish something important. Amanda Hughes was very impressive, finishing fourth in the javelin with a distance of 121 feet, 4 inches, adn third in the discus with 120 feet, 1 inch. Both of those performances were enough to qualify her to the 2012 PSAC Outdoor Championships, which take place in early May.
The men were solid in the field as well. Brian Pellechia finished ninth in the hammer throw with 138 feet, 8 inches, while teammate Dillon Wallner finishied 11th with 138 feet even. That was good enough to qualify both athletes to the PSACs in that event.
On the track, Ryan Karli was the top performer for the men, finishing third overall in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.61 seconds.
The women performed even better on the track. Nicole Smith and Kathleen Casey each qualified to the PSACs in the 800-meters. Smith finished in 2:20.81, while Casey finished in 2:21.45. Casey also placed eighth in the 1500m with a time of 4:46.94.
Brittany Boyer also got herself into the PSAC Championships, finishing sixth overall in the 5000m with a time of 18:47.09.
While the PSAC Outdoor Championships won’t take place until the first week of May, which is the last week of classes, the track and field teams have plenty to keep them busy before then. Next Friday and Saturday, the teams will compete in the Metrics & Combined Events Challenge at Millersville. The following week, they will host the WCU Open here at West Chester.
Joey Samuel is a third-year student majoring in political science and Spanish. He can be reached at JS719745@wcupa.edu.