Bloomsburg University’s Men and Women’s indoor track and field teams wrapped up their weekend at the Bison Open and Multi at Bucknell University this past weekend.
The Women’s Huskies shined as three of their girls posted Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) marks on the closing Saturday.
The girls had early success in the long jump event, where sophomore Kathleen Stevenson and freshman Ashley Blannard hit a mark during the event. An impressive jump of 5.44 meters landed Stevenson in third, while Blannard scored a distance of 5.30 meters, giving her seventh place.
The next qualifier Bloomsburg was able to send was sophomore Autumn Avery, who finished fourth overall in the 800-meter race. She crossed the finish line with a time of 2:21.64.
These were not the only Huskies who made an impression on the track however; freshman Kathryn Blair scored a second place overall in her race of the 500-meter run with the time of 1:19.74. Another freshman scoring a place alongside her is Riley Snyder, who earned 10th place after finishing the race with a time of 1:24.56.
A pair of top ten finishes occurred in field events came from freshmen Emilee Wasilewski and Sydney Shaeffer. Shaeffer managed to tie for seventh place during the high jump event with a mark at 1.49 meters, while Wasilewski finished eighth overall after winning her flight in triple jump. She boasted a jump with a distance of 10.20 meters.
The closing event was the 4×400 relay and the Huskies found great success in the race as their team finished five overall. The foursome consisted of the talent of senior Kristen O’Malley, sophomore Jessica Brenfleck, Stevenson, and the sophomore Natalia Konitzer. The girls crossed the finish line with a time of 4:10 83.
Next weekend will see the Huskies on the road again as they travel to Youngstown, Ohio. The event of the Youngstown State Mid-Major Invitational will start on Friday, February first and will continue onto Saturday.
The Bloomsburg Men’s team travelled along to the Bison Invitational as well, and faced stiff competition as they raced.
Friday evening proved successful for the men as they managed to place in a few races during the invitational. The Huskies earned themselves a fourth place when freshman Hank Anderson finished with a time of 8.59 in his event, the 60-meter hurdles. Senior Nick McGuire ran the 5000-meter run at a time of 15:46.87, this earned him eighth place. These times qualified these boys for the PSAC championships.
Bloomsburg’s boys managed to pull away some key marks in field events as well during the weekend. Sophomore Matt Loeh became a PSAC qualifier on Friday evening, when he threw a distance of 15.09 meters during the weight throw. On Saturday, seventh and eighth place in the high jump event was scored by sophomore A.J. Peapos and senior Dave Lauscar. Peapos barely beat out Lauscar with a mark of 1.84 meters, right behind was Lauscar’s jump of 1.79 meters.
The Huskies were not done on the the track though, as key places were scored during some of the distance races. The 500-meter race proved to be the men’s strongest event. It was won by freshman Tyler Bailey, who crossed the finish line in 1:05.91, beatings all of his competition. In the mile run, sophomore Chris McCormick earned the Huskies a 16th overall spot when he finished with a time of 4:37.56. A 13th place was earned in the 800-meter run by senior Tom Moser, after completing his race with a time of 2:04.17.
The 1000-meter race saw sophomore Hunter Jarratt beating out the pack when he earned the Huskies a third place after running a time of 2:39.16. Jarratt then joined up with redshirt freshman Tyreem Welton, senior Ben Williams, and Bailey when they scored a sixth-place in the 4×400 relay. They finished their race boasting a time of 3:34.09.
The men’s Huskies will be joining the girls at the next invitational this weekend at the Youngstown State Mid-Major Invitational in Ohio.
