(Posted April 9, 2005)

Grantham, Pa.? Facing many of the same teams that it will meet at the MAC Championships in a few weeks, the Juniata College men?s and women?s track and field teams enjoyed a solid day at the Messiah Invitational Saturday afternoon. The Eagle men placed third out of the 16-team field, while the Eagle women posted an eighth-place finish out of 18 teams.

The Eagle men piled up many of their points in the sprint events particularly the 100. Juniata had runners finish first, third and fourth in the race as Randy Anderson (DuBois/DuBois), Dustin Sier (Smithsburg/Smithsburg, Md.) and Gary Ondecko (Bishop Carroll/Northern Cambria) claimed those spots. The trio then all scored points in the 200 with Sier placing fourth, Anderson fifth and Ondecko eighth. To then complete their sprint efforts, that trio teamed with Ben Beas (Kiski Prep./Johnstown) to finish first, and break the school record in the 4x100-meter relay. The quartet ran home in a time of 42.73, which bested the previous time of 42.80.

Beas also added a seventh-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, while Anderson placed second in the long jump.

Also scoring for the men on the day was Mike Chirdon (Riverview/Verona) who ran to a fourth-place finish in the 5,000 and Mark Modak (Sandy Spring Friends/Gaithersburg, Md.) who placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles. Adam Loser (Central York/York) also contributed a fifth-place finish in the high jump.

For the Eagle women, the top finish of the day came from Nancy Hayes (Westminster/Westminster, Md.) who captured a first-place finish in the 5,000. The Eagles also earned points in the sprints as Meredith Troutman (Meyersdale/Meyersdale) placed fourth in the 400, and sixth in the 200. Elena Amato (Notre Dame Prep./Baltimore) added a sixth-place finish in the 400. The Eagles also had two athletes earn points in the 10,000 as Meghan Fahy (Brandywine/Wilmington, De.) finished seventh, and Corrine Barabas (Pen Argyl/Pen Argyl) placed eight.

Juniata also had several strong finishes in the throwing events, highlighted by the efforts of Debbie Delaney (Franklin/Reisertown, Md.) who earned points in three different events. She had her top finish with a third-place effort in the discus, and then she added a fifth in the shot put, and a seventh in the hammer throw. Betsy Kusniez (Boyertown/Gilbertsville) placed sixth in the hammer and Jan Jennings (Pleasant Valley/Saylorsburg) rounded out the scoring with an eighth-place toss in the javelin.

Juniata will be back in action next week as the Eagles will compete at the Bucknell Distance Carnival.

###

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.