By Mark Bentz
This past weekend provided the Elizabethtown Track and Field team with some busy action as the weather twisted from spring-like conditions back into a winter wonderland here in Etown. The Jays traveled to Haverford College last Tuesday for a meet and to East Stroudsburg University last Saturday.
At the Haverford Quadrangle Meet, the event for the Jays was highlighted by the success of the men’s distance medley relay team. Junior competitors Dustin Scott, Aaron Lyle, Mike Zwatty and freshman Steve Sanko ran the distance medley in an official time of 10:27.24, which was just short of the provisional qualifying standard of 10:21.60. With several meets to go in the winter season, there is still a good chance for the team to eclipse this mark and qualify for the NCAAs. The time also set an Etown program record, set at Penn State last year.
"Coming into the race, it was questionable who was going to run on the team," Zwatty said. Several of us were banged up with injuries but luckily when it came to race time we were able to put together the best team we could. Everyone ran exceptional races and did what they were capable of."
Scott ran the 1200m leg of the race in 3:11, Lyle finished the 400m leg in 52 seconds, Zwatty cracked the two-minute barrier in the 800m leg with a time of 1:58 and Sanko anchored the race with a 1600m leg of 4:25.
On the women’s side at Haverford, it was another successful day for Etown. Senior Annalisa Ellis took second place in the 55m dash with a time of 7.74 seconds after the fully automated time (FAT) was adjusted. That time beat her previous best set a few weeks back at Bucknell. Finishing right behind her in the 55m was freshman Betsy Burroughs with a FAT of 8.04.
It was a good day for the sophomores as well as Carrie Kerna won three events, including the 55m high hurdles, the high jump and the long jump and Casey Moser took the gold in the triple jump. Moser finished second in both the high jump, in which she was competing in for the first time, and the long jump went to Kerna. The women’s 4x200m relay team of Ellis, Kerna, Burroughs and freshman Kristen Pettibon ran the event in a time of 1:52.7, which bested the record they set at the previous meet at East Stroudsburg.
"Both the men's and women’s teams are making tremendous strides as it seems that each week another record is falling. On the women’s side, Ellis, Burroughs and Kerna are really starting to stand out. For the men, we will really be evaluating them this weekend at F&M. Aaron Lyle has really been performing well in the 400m and should do well again this weekend," sprinting and hurdling coach Scott Myers confirmed.
It was more of the same for the Blue Jays in the meet at East Stroudsburg. Etown runners dominated the 5000m, with three competitors placing in the race’s top five. Scott took the event in a meet-record time of 15:36.79. That time makes 2002 the third consecutive year that an Etown runner has set a new DeShriver Invitational 5000m record. Etown’s Kevin Roe set the old record in 2001, which broke the meet record set by Larry Bullock in 2000. Sophomores Sean Mulcahy and Josh Lyman took third and fifth place, respectively.
The Jays achieved success in other events as well. Sanko set a new Etown program record while finishing second out of 35 runners with a time of 4:24.77. Zwatty finished third out of 27 runners in the 800m. The pole vaulters set a few new records for the school as well. Sophomore Eric Bennett captured the highest vault for the indoor program by achieving 13 feet. Freshman Andy Kuchera was right behind Bennett by vaulting 12’6."
Important individual achievements were on the docket for the women’s team as well at East Stroudsburg. The performance of Moser dominated the day as she set a personal and program record in the triple jump competition with a distance of 35’ 3," which broke the mark she set at the indoor MAC’s last season. Another Etown program record fell in the 400m when Burroughs finished seventh out of 25 runners in 1:01.38, just over a second faster than the previous record which she set just last week at Bucknell.
Other individual Etown highlights included freshman Melissa St. Clair’s fourth place finish in the 5000m in 19:42.08, Kerna’s second place finish in her heat of the 55m high hurdles in 8.84 seconds, and sophomore Jessica Popp’s pole vault of 8' 6."
The Jays have been extremely successful this winter season, but it has not been without cost. "Three impact athletes are injured right now," head coach Chris Straub said. Dave Berdan has patellofemoral pain syndrome in his knee and may miss most, if not all, of this indoor season. Likewise, Kristin Lander has a reoccurring injury from her senior year in high school and may require complete rest deep into the outdoor season. On a normal size track & field squad, having one or two key people out with injuries is disappointing, but you’re still competitive. With us, if we lose one or two of our best people, we go from being a competitive team to having only a few competitive individuals. When it comes time for indoor or outdoor MACs we’re in trouble if our key people are not healthy."
The Blue Jays will stay relatively local this weekend when they travel cross county to take part in the William Iannicelli Invitational at Franklin & Marshall College. The countdown to the indoor MACs is down to just two weeks.