The West Chester Golden Rams men’s and women’s track and field teams did phenomenal this past week, producing multiple winners at West Chester’s Invitational inside John A. Farrell Stadium.
The Golden Rams men’s team had a big winner in Nick Drozd, winning two events for West Chester University. Drozd, a junior, placed first in the 400m dash at the invitational, clocking in at 49.17 seconds. Drozd also won the 400m hurdles at the event, finishing them in 55.48 seconds. Alex Foulke, a sophomore, came in second place in the 400m dash, clocking in at 50.21 seconds, while Domonik Brown, a senior, came in eighth in the competition, finishing in 52.09 seconds. Ryan Karli, a senior, and Mark van Teyens, a freshman, finished in second and fifth place for the hurdles, respectively. Karli finished in 56.21, while Teyens finished in 56.92.
The men’s team also had other first place winners, including the 4×400 relay team. The team finished their relay in three minutes and 22.02 seconds to take home first place. Elsewhere in the field events, Joe DeCecco, a freshman, won the high jump for the Golden Rams, reaching 6 feet, 2 ¾ inches to come in first. Tyler Espey, a sophomore, won the javelin by a throw of 172-09.
Eric Hunter, a sophomore, also had a good day, placing third in the high jump by clearing 6 ¾ feet. To add to that, Hunter also received second place in the pole vault competition, clearing 14-7 ¾ feet.
Sean Sebeck, a senior, won the 10,000m run for the distance events, clearing the distance in 33:40.87. Behind him was the Golden Rams’ own Chris Bucci, who came in second place with a time of 34:10.84.
The women’s track and field team for West Chester more than held their own as well, with the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams winning their respective events. Randi Boothe, a junior, dominated the competition, winning both the 100m and 200m races in 12.03 second and 25.22 seconds. Nicole Smith, a senior, won the 800m race in two minutes, 15.67 seconds.
Amanda Hughes, a sophomore, won the javelin for the women’s squad, winning with a throw of 118-11. Hughes also participated in the discus, coming in third with a 118-9. Also placing in the javelin competition was Lauren Farrisi, who came in sixth place with a throw of 101-10.
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams go on to East Stroudsburg University for their next competition.
Oliver Suskin-Santarelli is a third-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at OS753461@wcupa.edu.