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March 29, 2008
IUP took seven first place finishes, including a national qualifying time for Sean Strauman in the 800 meters, at the Western Pennsylvania track and field championships hosted by Carnegie Mellon on Saturday. Strauman was joined as a men's event winner by Rob Conrad in the javelin, Alec Rice in the pole vault and Chris Gardner in the long jump. Women's titlists were Maureen Newell in the 1500 meters, Stacie Stockard in the steeplechase and Lindsay Scheller in the 5000 meters. Strauman had a time of 1:51.58 to earn a Division II provisional qualifying time in the 800. He broke the Geisling Stadium record and came within .31 of matching his own meet record set last spring. Gardner had a best jump of 22 feet, 8 inches in winning the long jump and also cleared the bar at 6-4 ¾ in the high jump to place second in that event. Conrad won the javelin with a throw of 194-7 while Rice's 14-6 effort was good enough to take first in the pole vault. Two other men finished third, including Matt Gaudet in the steeplechase (9:45.16) and Matt Celestin in the long jump (20-10). In addition to winning the women's 1500 with a time of 4:50.52, Newell also finished second in the 800 in 2:21.47. Stockard had a time of 11:30.72 in winning the steeplechase, coming within three seconds of the NCAA qualifying standard. Scheller captured the 5000 in 18:20.15. Shannon Elkins tied for third in the high jump (5-1) while fourth place finishes were turned in by Gretchen Colwell in the hammer throw (149-4) and Erica Hoffman in the 5000 (18:21.77). In the team standings, the IUP men were fourth with 85 points while the women were sixth with 51 points. Carnegie Mellon won the men's meet and St. Francis took the women's title. Both IUP teams will compete in the PSAC West Challenge next Saturday at Slippery Rock. |
