s teams head toward the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships (MACs) at Lebanon Valley College next month, the Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s track teams took their talents to the Messiah Invitational Saturday where the men finished fourth out of 14 teams, while the women finished in second. Obtaining the top spot in his respective event on the men’s side was senior Cameron Aregood with a throw of over 189 ft.
Among other outstanding performances on the men’s side, junior Kevin Brady finished second in the 110 meter hurdles, junior Brian Layng finished third and first-year Malcolm McCord took fourth. In the 1500 meters, junior Ian Hamilton took fourth place, while Layng also finished fourth in the pole vault. In the Hammer event, junior Steve Smith threw over 93 ft, moving him up the Blue Jays all time list to number eight.
On the women’s side, senior Jenna Niedermayer finished first in the triple jump, long jump, and high jump. Also finishing in the top spot for the Blue Jays was sophomore was Casey Meier, who won the javelin event. In the 4 x 400 meter relay, senior Ashley Lockwood, first-year Alyssa Aichele, first-year Lindsey Pekurny and junior Shanna Kirgan won the event with a time of 4:11.14.
Other notable performances on the women’s side include junior Elaina Nellis finishing second in the 3000 meter steeplechase and junior Monica Loranger finishing second behind Niedermayer in the high jump. Junior Eileen Kroszner finished third in the shot put with a throw of over 34 feet.
Among other taking third place finishes in their events were senior Pam Jaraczewski in the 100 meters with a time of 13:16, junior Ali Christ in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:10.70, and senior Nadine Yunginger in the pole vault.
While some of the team competed at the Messiah Invitational, others competed in the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic on the campus of Bucknell University on Saturday.
The highlight of the event was junior Traci Tempone finishing in ninth in the 5000 meters, breaking the school record. Tempone’s time to 17:08.46 breaking the record that was previously held by former Blue Jay standout Melissa St. Clair’s 2005 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship run of 17:14.79.
First-year Rachel Carr’s 1500 meter run put her among the College’s best with a time of 4:45.90, ranking sixth all time.
Among other runners in the event were senior Jill Casey with a time of 4:52.64, sophomore Amelia Ternan with a time of 4:59.46, junior Laurie Jones finished at 5:01.51 and junior Amanda Kerno rounding out the Blue Jays with a time of 5:07.90.
In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, senior Megan Patton finished with a time of 11:26.28 while junior Megan Tursi finished in 12:04.24.
Notable men’s performances include first-year Matt Shenk running the 5,000 meter event with a time of 14:47.06. Junior Stephen Welsh finished in 15:05.09, sophomore Dan Gresh finished in 15:38.32 and first-year Sam Cooper finished in 15:57.32.
With the goal of winning the conference, Lockwood believes that these races last weekend have helped the team move toward their goals. “The meets this weekend had lots of great competition, and allowed us to run against schools from our conference, as well as DI and DII schools. These meets have motivated us to continue to train and work hard so we can come out on top this year. Each meet has given us more opportunities to qualify for championships and improve our times as we get ready for MACs.”
The teams’ next meet will be at Widener University on Friday and Saturday.
