The Slippery Rock University men’s track team hit 17 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualification marks, 12 of which were top-three finishes, and won four events this past Thursday at the SRU open.
Junior JJ Ollio was the clear-cut star in the throwing events on Thursday night, winning the shot put with a 15.63 meter toss. Ollio also claimed second in the discus with a 44.82 meter throw, and rounded out his day with a 45.34 meter toss to take sixth in the hammer throw. Other Rock throwers were senior Jerrod Galloway who placed sixth in the shot put and freshman Brendan Stamm who took eighth in the discus.
In the three field events, The Rock nabbed 5 PSAC qualifications, all of which were top-three placements. Sophomore Noah Bostick leaped 6.72 meters in the long jump, and was narrowly trailed by teammate sophomore Jared Geist who took third. Sophomore Andrew Koksal and senior Keiffer Reed mirrored those placements in the pole vault taking second and third. To round out field events, freshman Lance Thornton was the runner-up in the high jump with a 1.98 meter jump.
On the track, three event wins propelled Slippery Rock to a very productive day. Multi-event star Bostick continued his run of success, winning the 110 meter hurdles with a 15.03 second time. Senior Savon Salter won the 400 meter hurdles with a 56.22 second time, and only .31 seconds behind him was teammate junior Logan Mooney who took third place. The final event win belonged to junior Jacob VanHouten, who ran the 400 meter dash in 48.54 seconds. Senior Vanere Maynard added a third place finish in the event with a 50.05 second time. To round out the day, freshman Collin Darby and junior Andrew Bridgeforth placed fifth and seventh respectively in the 100 meter dash.
Slippery Rock next competes at the Hillsdale Gina Relays Thursday and Friday, and the Ashland Alumni Open Friday and Saturday.
