2008 Woodie Awards
Indoor track puts up strong performance at Bucknell Open
By Matt Matusek
Rocket Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/3/06 Section: Sports
The Slippery Rock University track and field team made a name for itself over the weekend at the Bucknell Bison Open, with seven earning blue ribbons for their first place finishes.
SRU showed it can compete against a multitude of schools as the Open featured 18 teams.
"Everybody did a nice job out there. We're progressing quite nicely and we're headed in the right direction," coach John Papa said.
Vera McDaniel won the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.99 seconds. McDaniel took second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.26 seconds, falling only .08 seconds shy of the leader.
"Vera, as an incoming freshman, has really helped us out, there's no doubt about it," Papa said.
Preston Gibbs put forth a solid showing, earning a first place finish in the triple jump and a second place finish in the long jump. Ben Ostrowski also had a strong performance, finishing third in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump.
Both the men's and women's pole vault put up impressive showings in the meet. On the women's side, Jennifer Hansen and Abby McKissick tied the school vaulting record of 11-3 3/4 en route to tying for the top spot.
Tim Tray and Joe Labarbera carried over their solid performances from the SRU Invitational with a tie for second place in the meet, with a vault of 15-1/4. Tray finished first at the SRU Invitational two weeks ago, and Labarbera finished fourth.
Paul Schwab won the heptathlon with 4,889 points, which is 200 points more than the nearest competitor.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team, consisting of Jill Rekich, Alison Gardner, Andi Rose and Melissa Sopher won their second relay of the year with a time of 3:58:30.
On the men's side, Nate Shadeck, Andy Notareschi, Shayne Cooper and Gabe Fortunato placed fourth, in a time of 3:28:83.
In the women's high jump, Louise O'Rourke tied for second with a jump of 5-1. For the men, Steve Brenner jumped 6-4 3/4, good enough for third place in the long jump.
The women's 400-meter dash saw Sopher earn a second place finish with a time of 59.99 seconds, while Shadeck finished third for the men, with a time of 51.34.
Justin Gavazzi finished third in the one-mile run, and Amelia Ruefthaler had a fifth place finish in the 800-meter run. Sunny Daugherty took a fifth place finish in the triple jump.
Rose, Rash and Little should all be 100 percent when the Rock returns to action tomorrow. The team travels to Akron, Ohio to compete in the Akron Invitational.
"There should be some very good athletes in Akron. We should be able to perform to the levels of our competition," Papa said. "We should have about a handful of first place finishes and many more second and third places," he said, "and I predict we'll break three school records."
SRU showed it can compete against a multitude of schools as the Open featured 18 teams.
"Everybody did a nice job out there. We're progressing quite nicely and we're headed in the right direction," coach John Papa said.
Vera McDaniel won the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.99 seconds. McDaniel took second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.26 seconds, falling only .08 seconds shy of the leader.
"Vera, as an incoming freshman, has really helped us out, there's no doubt about it," Papa said.
Preston Gibbs put forth a solid showing, earning a first place finish in the triple jump and a second place finish in the long jump. Ben Ostrowski also had a strong performance, finishing third in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump.
Both the men's and women's pole vault put up impressive showings in the meet. On the women's side, Jennifer Hansen and Abby McKissick tied the school vaulting record of 11-3 3/4 en route to tying for the top spot.
Tim Tray and Joe Labarbera carried over their solid performances from the SRU Invitational with a tie for second place in the meet, with a vault of 15-1/4. Tray finished first at the SRU Invitational two weeks ago, and Labarbera finished fourth.
Paul Schwab won the heptathlon with 4,889 points, which is 200 points more than the nearest competitor.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team, consisting of Jill Rekich, Alison Gardner, Andi Rose and Melissa Sopher won their second relay of the year with a time of 3:58:30.
On the men's side, Nate Shadeck, Andy Notareschi, Shayne Cooper and Gabe Fortunato placed fourth, in a time of 3:28:83.
In the women's high jump, Louise O'Rourke tied for second with a jump of 5-1. For the men, Steve Brenner jumped 6-4 3/4, good enough for third place in the long jump.
The women's 400-meter dash saw Sopher earn a second place finish with a time of 59.99 seconds, while Shadeck finished third for the men, with a time of 51.34.
Justin Gavazzi finished third in the one-mile run, and Amelia Ruefthaler had a fifth place finish in the 800-meter run. Sunny Daugherty took a fifth place finish in the triple jump.
Rose, Rash and Little should all be 100 percent when the Rock returns to action tomorrow. The team travels to Akron, Ohio to compete in the Akron Invitational.
"There should be some very good athletes in Akron. We should be able to perform to the levels of our competition," Papa said. "We should have about a handful of first place finishes and many more second and third places," he said, "and I predict we'll break three school records."
