(Posted May 10, 2009)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Twelve members of the Juniata College track & field teams competed at either the Allegheny College Gator Invitational on Friday, May 8, or the Penn State Open on Saturday, May 9.

During Friday's meet at Allegheny, two Juniata school records were broken and one was tied.

Junior Melissa Johnson (Colonia, N.J./John F. Kennedy) broke the school record in the 400m hurdles while finishing third. She improved her personal best time by 1.08 seconds to 1:04.94. This time broke the previous school record of 1:05.56 by 0.62 seconds. The previous record was held by two people: Jessica Sprankle ran the previous record in 2000 and Meredith Troutman tied it in 2004.

Also on the women's side, sophomore Stephanie Varner (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area) finished eighth and tied her own school record in the pole vault with a jump of 3.20m (10' 6").

In the men's competition, senior Tripp Rudolph (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) broke his own school record in the 800m by 0.31 seconds with a time of 1:55.07. He set the previous school record during his freshman campaign three years ago. He finished seventh at Allegheny.

During competition at Penn State on Saturday, all three of the teams' athletes who have already provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championship improved upon their previous marks.

Senior Kyle Mazur (Ogdensburg, N.J./Morris Catholic) improved his personal best in the javelin by 2' 9" with a toss of 212' 7". With that mark he remains ranked second in the nation in NCAA Division III. He won the event at Penn State.

Freshman Dustin Drake (Mount Union, Pa./Mount Union) also improved his personal best in the javelin to 199' 6". He remains ranked thirteenth in the NCAA Division III. He finished third at Penn State.

For the women's team, senior Kelsey Buffenmyer (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) improved her season best in the high jump by a quarter inch with a leap of 5' 5.25". With that improvement she climbs into a tie for tenth on the NCAA Division III performance list. She finished third at Penn State.

All that remains on the 2009 schedule is the NCAA Division III National Championship in Marietta, Ohio in two weeks.

The Juniata College performance list from Allegheny and Penn State follow.

Allegheny College Gator Invitational - 5/8/2009 (Meadville, Pa.)

WOMEN


100 Meter Dash
15. Johnson, Melissa, 13.51

800 Meter Run
18. Howser, Mary, 2:40.94

1500 Meter Run
8. Rupprecht, Laura, 4:53.52

400 Meter Hurdles
3. Johnson, Melissa, 1:04.94

High Jump
4. Buffenmyer, Kelsey, 1.55m

Women Pole Vault
8. Varner, Stephanie, 3.20m (10' 6")

MEN

100 Meter Dash
10. Filamor, Patrick, 11.35
21. Bussard, Zane, 12.10

800 Meter Run
7. Rudolph, Tripp, 1:55.07

1500 Meter Run
19. Klena, Nikolai, 4:14.95

Long Jump
7. Filamor, Patrick, 6.36m


Penn State Open - 5/9/2009 (University Park, Pa.)

WOMEN


High Jump
3. Buffenmyer, Kelsey, 1.66m (5-05.25)

Javelin Throw
4. Ginter, Kristyn, 33.72m (110-07)


MEN

Javelin Throw
1. Mazur, Kyle, 64.80m (212-07)
3. Drake, Dustin, 60.82m (199-06)

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