Slippery Rock outdoor track and field will split between Allegheny College’s Marty Goldberg Gator Invite and the Ashland University’s Alumni Open on Friday and Saturday.
The Gator Invite will technically get underway at Allegheny’s Robertson Athletic Complex on Thursday with the hammer throw before Friday’s events get started at noon, beginning with a continuation of throwing events. Track events will begin around 6 p.m.
The Ashland Alumni Open also starts with the hammer, this time Friday at 10 a.m., before the rest of the field events. Track events will occur on Saturday, with the plan currently being to round out with the 4×400 meter relay.
The Rock are coming off 18 event wins at their home meet, the John Papa Invitational.
The women’s side earned 10 of the wins, spreading the wins across 10 athletes. Kamryn Ross, Ava Reagle, Carissa Flynn, Ondrea Young, Evabella Cox, Marabelle Thornberry, Grace Lennon, Lydia Reed, Tayla Kurzawa and Isabella Bartoletti all placed first in an individual event or the 4×100 meter relay.
Kurzawa looks forward coming off especially impressive performances, as the freshman from Upper Saint Clair landed first in the triple jump and the high jump, as well a fourth-place finish in the long jump.
Jason Alderson will look to stay hot after joining Kurzawa with two jumping event wins. The Shamokin Area grad won the long jump and the triple jump. Ryan Czechowski, Mattew Crow, Dylan Langdon, Logan Gossard, Zach Gose and Joey Reed will also look to build off of event wins as they move toward the PSAC Championships.
Last year, sprinters were the only athletes in attendance for the Ashland Alumni Open. AJ Virata showed out with a first place, 21.43 second 200-meter dash and a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash during the 2025 rendition of the Open. The times also served as two of The Rock men’s six total PSAC marks.
Annasophia Stauffer and Chaley Younkin highlighted the women in White and Green’s time at the Ashland-hosted event a year ago. The two both notched PSAC auto marks in the 400-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles respectively.
While Virata and Youngkin, seniors last year, will not return for this year’s Open, Stauffer will. The junior spent all of 2024 and 2025 running with SRU track and field. A One-time PSAC Champion and two-time All-PSAC honoree, she is used to the competition ahead.
The Rock did not participate in the 2025 Marty Goldberg Gator Invitational.
The split-squad meets will serve as a final test run before SRU returns to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships. The championships will go from April 30 to May 2 at Shippensburg University.
Following the championships, SRU track and field will get one more tune up in the BW Last Chance Meet at Baldwin Wallace University before the NCAA Division II National Championships begin May 21.
