Meet Results
CHESTER, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College men's track and field team finished third at the three-day Middle Atlantic Conference championships, being held at Widener University's Leslie C. Quick, Jr. Stadium.
The Blue Jays tallied 144 1/2 points in 22 events, finishing behind host Widener (190 points) and DeSales University (169 points) in the field of 11 schools.
Colby Miller was named Track Athlete of the Year for the men after winning the 10,000 Thursday night and coming back to win the 5,000 meters Saturday afternoon in a time of 15:37.69.
Miller led five Blue Jays in the top eight in the 5,000, as
Charlie Larsen was third (15:42.70),
Rich Greco took fourth (15:44.70),
Myles Lund finished sixth (15:46.95) and
Evan DeArmitt ran in seventh place (15:51.07).
In sprints,
Wyatt Eaton finished fifth in the 100 meters (11.33) and was third in the 200 meters (22.62) with
Brian Allport taking sixth (22.74) and
Pat Doughty seventh (23.01). Allport added a second-place finish in the 400 meters (50.42) and
Luke Rotenberger was fourth in 50.74.
In the 1500, DeArmitt finished fourth with a time of 4:03.20, while
Aaron Focht took sixth in 4:04.08. Fifth place went to
Elton Dos Santos in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.42 seconds.
In relays, the 4x100 team of Doughty, Eaton,
Mike Mauger and Allport was third in 43.31 seconds, and in the 4x400 the Blue Jays took third behind
Kyle Grimm, Allport, Rotenberger and Eaton.
Eaton also finished fifth in the long jump at 21 feet, 4 1/4 inches, while in the javelin
Mike Torre was third in 193 feet, 10 inches with Aregood finishing eighth with a throw of 176 feet, 6 inches.
On Friday, Greco finished second in the steeplechase with a time of 9:39.76, moving him into third place on the school's all-time Top 10 list, while Lund placed fifth in 9:50.79.
In field events, Aregood tied for third in the high jump at 6 feet, 4 inches and
Tim Katzaman was seventh in the discus at 124 feet.
Steven Boyer took sixth in the decathlon with 4,042 points in the two-day, 10-event competition.
On Thursday, Miller led a sweep of the top three positions in the 10,000 meters, crossing the line in 32:40.83. DeArmitt followed in second place at 32:45.43, with Larsen taking third in 32:50.46.
In the 4x800 meters, the Blue Jays took third in 7:59.56 with the team of
Matt Jensen, Grimm,
Mark Weber and
Aaron Focht moving into eighth place on the program's all-time performance list.
Katzaman finished eighth in the hammer throw and broke his own school record in the event with a mark of 138 feet, 11 inches. He set the previous record of 137 feet, 8 inches at last year's conference championship.
Coach Straub's Summary:
Both the men's and women's teams were 3rd out of 11 teams at the indoor championships in February so that's the most valid measure of our current level of competitiveness. There have been great improvements by several athletes since that time and it's been a very successful outdoor campaign. Both teams were hoping to challenge for the win over the 3-day outdoor championships. We felt that was a realistic goal--especially for the men. And both teams were in the mix and gave themselves a chance. We knew it would take a perfect meet on our part to come away with a team title or two. The men had a good, solid meet. The women had an absolutely amazing meet.
Our hats off to the Widener men and Coach Touey. Their sprinters came through for them in a big way to lead them to victory. For example, they were seeded to get 2 points in the 100m and they racked up 19 points. It's really difficult to make up that kind of deficit. The DeSales men really had a nice meet as well to finish Runner-up. We had a nice run of winning the MAC outdoor T&F title the past three years in a row. We're young, improving, and bring in one of our better recruiting classes for 2011. We look forward to challenging for the win in 2011 and putting our blood, sweat, and tears back into it for another shot at the title a year from now. I know our current group of seniors really wanted to win all four outdoor titles over their tenure, but it just wasn't in the cards. They have a lot to be proud of regardless of this particular outcome.
The women's team, led by Coach Hoffsmith, had an absolutely AMAZING meet! The closest our women have ever been (program's inception was 2000) to winning their first outdoor title was in 2006. That year we won the indoor title and were 23-1/2 points out of first at the outdoor championships. We totalled 156 points in 2006 which was our largest tally until this year. Last year, in 2009, we fought hard for second place and achieved that goal. But we were a very distant second place finishing 78 points behind Messiah. This year, we gave Messiah a real fight which I'm not sure anyone truly expected. To finish within 14 points of the win and rack up 179 points was remarkable! The women were extremely poised, confident, and tenacious over the three days of competition. Our women can look back at the 2010 championships and be really proud of their efforts. To come so close to victory, but remain the Runner-up, is something that should tremendously motivate this group over the next year.
Both teams competed really well and can look back on 2010 with a great deal of satisfaction. Next up for the Blue Jays, top individuals will go on to compete at the Gator Invitational at Allegheny College on Friday, May 14 and then the Lion's Last Chance Qualifier at The College of New Jersey on Thursday, May 20.
Then all NCAA Provisional Qualifiers await the selection committee's decision on Sunday, May 23 to see if they make the cut for the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor T&F Championships at Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland, Ohio on May 27-29.
At present, the following Blue Jays have met the NCAA provisional mark(s). As of 5/8/10 according to
www.raceberryjam.com:
Megan VanDenHengel (Sr.)
3000m Steeplechase in 11:12.2h @ Bucknell on 4/9/10 is Ranked 26th in Division III.
10,000m in 36:29.48 @ Penn Relays on 4/22/10 is Ranked 23rd in Division III.
Taryn Shank (Fr.)
10,000m in 37:22.71 @ Washington & Lee on 3/26/10 is Ranked 35th in Division III.
Mike Torre (Sr.)
Javelin of 194'1" @ Millersville on 4/3/10 is Ranked 26th in Division III.