Saturday, Feb. 3, the Blue Jays made up a roster to split both the men and women’s track and field teams to participate in Susquehanna University’s S.U. Challenge. The other half went to compete in the Dickinson College’s DuCharme Invitational.
Senior mid-distance runner Kelsey Brady stood out for the women as she stole first place in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:21.80. Beside her stood junior Carly Allport with a time of 2:25.99 in the same event. Senior Maria Anderson placed second in the 5,000-meter race, and senior Alexa Feduchak placed third in the weight throw.
The Blue Jays also earned seventh place in the 4×200-meter relay with a time of 1:57.69. Senior Kelsey Bentz, sophomores Ashleigh Denault and Jordan Sobolesky and first-year Christina Ippolito ran in this race. With a time of 4:21.88, Allport, Brady, first-year Emma Alger and senior Lia Chak earned 9th place in the 4×400-meter relay race.
The men’s track and field team also competed and had many athletes place in the top 10 positions in the competition.
Senior Tommy Fitzgerald took first place as he ran under two minutes (1:59.00) in the 800-meter race. Sophomore Samuel Gerstenbacher took second and broke Etown records while earning a 8:49.53 in the 3,000-meter event.
Senior Mitch Schlegel earned third place in the 200m race with a 23.53. Schlegel, first-year Ean Mann, junior Nick Winch and senior Brad Vasilik competed in the 4×200-meter relay, finishing in 1:34.58 and earning them 4th place.
Senior Matt Pysher threw 14.23 meters in the weight throw to earn him sixth place. Mann and junior Tyler Stephenson both earned seventh place, Mann in the 60-meter sprint with a time of 7.18, and Stephenson in the long jump with 6.24 meters (20’5-3/4”). Closing out the performances at the S.U. challenge was Curtis Reynolds in the triple jump with a jump of 12.19 meters (40’0”).
While the S.U. Challenge was successful, the NYU Invitational brought many personal records and outstanding performances by both the men and women track and field athletes as well.
Fitzgerald set a new personal record, earning him third place with a time of 1:56.13 in the 800-meter race. Stephenson placed eighth in the high jump with 1.83 meters (6’0”) and ninth in the long jump with 6.11 meters (20’0-1/2”). Mann earned ninth in the 60-meter sprint with a time of 7.12 and broke a personal record in the 200-meter race with 22.79, making this 200-meter race time the fastest all-time. Gerstenbacher also earned ninth in the mile with a time of 4:19.33 respectively.
Although the women’s track and field athletes had no first place winners at the NYU Invitational, Brady earned third in the mile with 5:02.34. Feduchak also earned 3rd in the weight throw with a distance of 14.13 meters (46’4-1/4”), making her one out of only six athletes at the meet who made it past 14-meters in the weight throw event.
Allport earned fourth place in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:23.27. In the shot put, junior Leah Gamber threw 11.26-meters (36’11-1/2”) while coming in sixth overall. Senior Brenna McNamee came in sixth place also in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:20.69. Junior Colleen Kernan came close behind her, earning 10th place with a 18:48.17 in the same event.
