Behrend Track and Field Teams Sprint to Men's and Women's Titles at W & J

The men's and women's track and field teams both captured team titles at the W & J Invitational on Saturday, April 4 with numerous athletes posting big scores.

The men's team won the meet with a team score of 128.50, defeating second place Carnegie Mellon by 11.5 points (117) in the 13-team field.

Ronson Mazany (Ashville, NY/Panama Central) had a breakout performance in the jumping events.  He soared 22' 11.75" in the long jump which was a NCAA provisional qualifying mark, an ECAC qualifying mark, a Behrend record, and a meet record.  Mazany also took first in the triple jump, leaping 45' 10.5" for a meet record and ECAC qualifying mark.  Mazany finished second in the high jump to teammate Bryson Hartzler (Belleville, PA/Indian Valley) who cleared 6'6" for an ECAC qualifying mark and a meet record.

Eston Winn (Erie, PA/McDowell) was second in the pole vault with a mark of 13' 11.75" while Matt Alto run a time of 35:12.35 in the 10,000m for a second place finish.  Also helping Behrend rack up the points was Earl Bass (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) who finished third in the 110m hurdles with an ECAC qualifying time of 15.66 seconds.  Calvin Schmader (Cooperstown, PA/Oil City) continued the onslaught of scoring by launching the shot put 43' 8.5" which set a new Behrend record.

The women won the event with a team score of 97.50, with Seton Hill finishing second at 90 points in the 12-team meet.

Virginia Rodgers-Owens (Washington, DC/Dunbar) set a Behrend team and meet record in the 100 m dash with a blistering time of 12.55 seconds which is also an ECAC qualifying time.  Dana Turley (Sarver, PA/Freeport) won the 400m hurdles (1:07.81) while Tanisha Wheatley took first in the 3000m steeplechase (12:42.38).  Katie Monoskey finished fourth in the discus throw with a mark of 112' 9" which was good for a Behrend record.

Jenna Fatica (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) took second in the 800m run (2:22.36) and Mandy Wehrle (Rossiter, PA/Punxsutawney) also took second in the 200m run (26.95), while the 4 x 100m relay team of Rodgers-Owens, Wehrle, Turley, and Fatica ran 51.61 seconds for a second place finish.

The blue and white will hope for another impressive showing at the next meet, which will be the Slippery Rock Invitational on Saturday, April 11.