The men’s and women’s track and field teams put together solid performances on the first day of the 2013 PSAC Indoor Championships at Edinboro University.
For the men, junior LeQuann Chapman provided most of the Golden Rams’ points on the first day as many events were still in the preliminary stage. Chapman placed second in the long jump with a leap of 24 feet, ¼ inches. The jump tied the second-best jump in school history.
The distance medley relay, made up of senior Sean Sebeck, junior Nick Drozd, senior Jake Perry,and sophomore Zack Musselman finished eighth, earning a single point with a time of 10 minutes, 39.51 seconds. Freshman Mark van Teyens won his heat in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.51 seconds and qualifying third. Senior Ryan Karli also qualified for the finals with the eighth best time of 8.63 seconds.
Freshman Collin Mascola currently sits in sixth place in the men’s heptathlon with 2,413 points. He recorded personal bests in the shot put, throwing a distance of 32 feet, 8¼ inches, and high jump, reaching a height of 6 feet, ½ inches.
The Golden Rams currently sit in eighth place with just nine points heading into the final day of competition, with plenty of points still up for grabs. Shippensburg is comfortably in first with 54.5 points with Kutztown and ESU in second and third with 40 and 37 points respectively. Lock Haven scored 30 points on the first day to snag fourth, with Slippery Rock and California (Pa.) in fifth and sixth with 24 and 20 points. IUP is seventh with 10 points, while Bloomsburg and Mansfield round out the field with 5.5 points and 4 points respectively.
On the women’s side of things, junior Randi Booth continues to stay one step ahead of the competition. She qualified third to advance to the finals in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter. She hit an NCAA provisional time of 25.48 seconds to win her heat in the 200-meter. Junior Amira Warrick finished with the sixth best time in 60-meter dash to advance to the finals along with Booth.
The ladies’ 4×800-meter relay team, consisting of senior Nicole Smith, freshman Janna Wilson, freshman Amber Key, and freshman Amanda Eisman, crossed the line in eighth place with a time of 9 minutes, 52.68 seconds. Freshman Kiersten Bond leaped to a sixth place finish in the long jump finals with a jump of 17 feet, 6¾ inches.
The Lady Rams sit last in the standings with only 4.25 points after day one, but just as with the men, there are plenty of points still available heading into the finals. Host Edinboro leads the field with 45 points, with Slippery Rock in second with 40.25 points. Kutztown and Shippensburg are battling it out for third scoring 37.75 and 37.25 points respectively. Three teams scored in the 20s as ESU scored 28, IUP 25, and Lock Haven 21. Bloomsburg sits in eighth with 16 points, California (Pa.) is ninth with 6.5 and Millersville and Clarion are tied for 10th with six points apiece.
The final heats held on Sunday, Feb. 24 were finished after this issue went to press.
Next up for the Golden Rams is their spring track and field season. They will have the next month off as they prepare for their first event of the season. On March 23, the Rams will host the West Chester Invitational with events starting at 10 a.m.
Chapman will be looking to defend his long jump crown that he won in 2012 and sophomore Eric Hunter will look to repeat in the pole vault.
Schools from all over the state will be sending their athletes, as well as some from Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.
Riley Wallace is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies with a journalism minor. He can be reached at RW718681@wcupa.edu.