(Posted March 26, 2005)

JUNIATA TRACK OPENS OUTDOOR SEASON AT SUSQUEHANNA

Selinsgrove, Pa.? The Juniata College men?s and women?s track and field teams opened its outdoor seasons at a non-scored meet at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove Saturday afternoon. Both teams enjoyed several top performances.

On the women?s side Elena Amato (Notre Dame Prep./Baltimore, Md.) had the top finish for the Eagles as she ran home in sixth place in the 400-meters. Meredith Troutman (Meyersdale/Meyersdale) added an eighth-place finish for the Blue and Gold in the 100-meter dash. Caitlin Hinson (Danville/Danville) contributed a ninth-place performance in the 200-meter dash. Debbie Delaney (Franklin/Reisertown, Md.) chipped in a 10th-place finish in the discus to round out the team?s top-10 efforts.

The Eagle men posted a pair of first-place finishes, and also saw two school records fall on the day. Jeremy Weber (Garden Spot/Mohnton) leaped to a first-place finish in the long jump as he posted a leap of 6.68 meters. The Eagles also got a first-place performance from its 4x100-meter relay team as the quartet of Weber, Randy Anderson (DuBois/DuBois), Gary Ondecko (Bishop Carroll/Ebensburg) and Dusty Sier (Smithsburg/Smithsburg, Md.) posted a time of 43.05 to claim first place.

The men also topped a school record as Justin Fritzius (Central York/York) broke his own record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. His time of 9:52.52 was more than 10 seconds faster than the previous record. The other record fell in the 10,000 meters where Mike Chirdon (Riverview/Verona) ran a time of 33:49.40 which bested the previous school record by more than a minute.

The athletes responsible for the first-place relay finish also added several individual top-10 finishes. Anderson placed second overall in the 100-meter dash and added a third-place finish in the long jump. Sier added a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter.

Ben Beas (Kiski Prep./Johnstown) posted a pair of top-10 performances as ha placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles and eighth in the 110-meter hurdles. Mark Modak (Sandy Spring Friends/Gaithersburg, Md.) added a 10th-place finish in the 400 hurdles. Rounding out the top-10 finishes for the Eagle men was a fifth-place effort for Mike Vella (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) in the 1,500.

The Eagles will be back in action next Saturday when they compete at the Western PA Championships at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.

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