Lions Excel in First Home Meet
For the first time in school history, the Penn State Behrend men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted a home meet. The men’s squad placed first out of four teams entered in the competition.
ERIE, Pa. – For the first time in school history, the Penn State Behrend men's and women's track and field teams hosted a home meet. The men's team, who is ranked 10th in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Team Index, placed first out of four teams entered in the competition.
On the men's side, the Lions had 12 individual winners with four athletes qualifying for ECAC's.
John Cerminara (Williamsburg, VA/Jamestown) led the way with first place finishes in both the shot put and the discus. Cerminara hit 14.41m in the shot and 45.40m in the discus. Both distances qualified the senior for ECAC's. Cerminara had another win in the hammer throw at 36.52m.
In the triple jump, Milt Sibanda (Jefferson, PA/Jefferson-Morgan) placed first and qualified for ECAC's at 13.52m. Both Conor MacMannis (Stafford, VA/Kubeszki) and Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) had excellent performances in the high jump. MacMannis won the event at 1.98m with Garnder close behind at 1.93m. With their heights, both athletes will earn a trip to the ECAC Outdoor Championships. Rounding out the ECAC qualifiers was Dylan Bilka (Seven Fields, PA/Seneca Valley) in the pole vault. Bilka cleared 4.80m for another Behrend first place.
The team of Andres Morales (Alajuela, Costa Rica/ICS), Geoffrey Faltot (Mercer, PA/Mercer), Kevin Lai (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood), and Kalil Slaughter (Sheffield, PA/Sheffield) qualified for ECAC's in the 4x100m relay. The group crossed the finish line at 43.16 for first place. Both Slaughter and Faltot had individual wins as well. Slaughter won the 100m and 200m with times of 11.21 and 22.57, respectively. Faltot took home a first place finish in the long jump at 6.47m.
Denis Lydon (Plum, PA/Plum) and Tyler Yost (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) were both winners on the track for the Lions. Lydon won the 1500m at 4:10.23 with Yost winning the 3000m steeplechase at 10:05.66. In the 110m hurdles, Brian Lauff (McDonald, PA/Fort Cherry) completed the Behrend winners with a finishing time of 17.33.
In the field, Behrend had another winner in Seth Weible (Johnsonburg, PA/Johnsonburg). Weible won the javelin with a distance of 45.04m.
The Lions will be back in action on Friday and Saturday for the Mason Dixon Conference Championships at Christopher Newport University.