Moravian Sweeps Landmark Indoor Track & Field Titles
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Moravian College continued its run of success at the Landmark Track & Field Championships Saturday in Selinsgrove, Pa. as the Greyhound women earned a fifth title in five tries and the men captured a fourth title in five Landmark seasons.
The women's competition was the tightest as Moravian rode six individual first-place finishes to 159 points and the title. Host Susquehanna University placed second with 125, followed by The Catholic University of America with 82. Goucher College produced 77 points to place fourth, Juniata College was fifth with 63 and United States Merchant Marine Academy collected 18 points to place sixth.
For the men Moravian enjoyed a balanced effort with eight total victories to earn 167 points and claim first. The tight battle was at second where Susquehanna claimed 98, just three ahead of USMMA. Juniata was fourth with 72, followed by Goucher and Catholic with 62 and 24 respectively.
Moravian took home two of the three individual awards as Lisa Williamson was voted Track Athlete of the Year, and Micah Leonard was picked as Field Athlete of the Year for the second-consecutive season. Goucher's Destiny Phillips was selected as the Rookie of the Year and the coaching staffs from Susquehanna and Catholic were each voted Coaching Staff of the Year.
For the men, the top three teams split the three major awards. Moravian's Donald Noble claimed Track Athlete of the Year honors, Susquehanna's Ken Schetroma earned Field Athlete of the Year, and USMMA freshman Chris Cook was tabbed as the Rookie of the Year. The Moravian coaching staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors after claiming the title.
Overall five new meet records and one new Landmark record were set at the competition.
Leonard claimed two of those meet records as she earned a pair of wins for the Greyhound women. She won the long jump with a mark of 5.52-meters and also placed first in the triple with a leap of 11.31 to match her own meet record. Williamson helped her Track Athlete of the Year selection with a win in the 60-meter dash by running 8.23. She also added a pair of second-place finishes, finishing behind her teammate Brielle Sutter who won the 200 and 400-meter dashes in 26.75 and 59.75 respectively. The Greyhounds other individual win came from Abigail Schaffer who cleared 4.01 meters to win the pole vault. The quartet of Kristina Ruggiero, Morgan Redmond, Sutter and Williamson then closed the meet with a win in the 4x400 relay in a time of 4:10.57.
Susquehanna earned its second-place effort with the help of two individual titles and a relay win. Laura Alleva ran 2:24.99 to place first in the 800 and Jessica Ranck won the weight throw with a toss of 13.52 meters. The Crusaders also earned a win in the 4x800 relay with Brooke Linders, Teresa McHale, Maggie Storch and Shannon Galvin recording a winning time of 10:19.20.
Catholic claimed three individual victories along with one relay win. Kelly Carioto won the shot put for the fourth-consecutive year, posting a meet record toss of 12.63 meters. Camelia Mayfield added a win in the 5,000 by running 18:56.05. Laura Kinley also crossed the line first for Catholic running 5:20.14 to win the mile. The Cardinals also won the Distance Medley Relay with Mayfield joining with Madeline Hotz, Maria Docal, and Kristen Rayfield posting a winning time of 13:15.87
Phillips claimed a win in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 9.09 and added several other top-5 finishes to earn her Rookie of the Year selection. She also ran on the winning 4x200 relay joining Erin Reifsnyder, Jaclyn Kellon and Kelsey Turner to post a winning time of 1:48.73. Juniata's Erika Brown was the other individual winner on the day as she matched the meet record by clearing 1.57-meters to win the high jump.
Moravian's men's side was led by Noble who claimed a pair of individual wins. He placed first in the 5,000 in a time of 15:14.78 and also won the mile run in a time of 4:18.21. Also claiming wins on the track for the Greyhounds were Steve Ambrosi who ran a winning time of 1:59.73 in the 800, and Nicco Dalpiaz who won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.50. The Greyhounds also claimed three field events on the day. Timothy Layng cleared a Landmark-record height of 4.96-meters to win the pole vault. Kristopher Joint set a new meet record with a winning leap of 13.68 in the triple jump. And Jonathan Heberling opened the competition by winning the high jump with a mark of 1.88 meters. Layng also joined with Travis Dorsa, Joe Wirfel, and Kyle D'Angelo to produce a winning time of 1:34.53 in the 4x200-meter relay.
Schetroma earned his Field Athlete of the Year selection on the strength of sweeping both throwing events for Susquehanna. He won the weight throw with a mark of 14.98-meters and then claimed the shot put with a toss of 15.44 meters. The Crusaders 4x800 relay also claimed a win with Joe Zamadics, Robby Caulfield, Brendan Albaugh and Austin Iovoli producing a winning time of 8:17.89.
Cook captured a pair of wins for USMMA, helping his team to its highest point total in the five-year history of the meet. The freshman won the 200 in a time of 23.01 and also placed first in the long jump with a mark of 6.72. Tomas Sanchez added a win in the 400 for USMMA, running a time of 51.16. The USMMA quartet of Hunter Karass, Richard Shelest, Sanchez and Kevin Young then closed the meet with a winning time of 3:28.32 in the 4x400 relay.
The other victories on the men's side went to Goucher which notched an individual title and a relay win. Will Evans III was first in the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.13 and then the Distance Medley Relay Team of Nick Manta, Zachary Byrum, Troy Browne and Joey Negreann produced a winning time of 10:44.28.
Landmark competitors will now have until March 4 to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships, with the field to be announced on March 5. The Championships will begin Friday March 9 at the Charles Benson Bear '30 Recreation and Athletic Center in Grinell, Iowa.
