Penn State Behrend Track and Field Passes Test at Cornell

On Saturday, February 14 the Penn State Behrend indoor track & field teams traveled to compete with Division I, II, and III programs at the Kane Invitational hosted by Cornell.  Behrend athletes came through at the highly competitive meet with several notable performances setting school records and hitting ECAC qualifying marks.

The Behrend women represented themselves well at the meet, highlighted by the 4x800 meter relay team taking first place.  Relay members Meghan Kronenwetter (St. Marys/Elk County Catholic), Liz Keller (Bradford/Bradford), Mandy Wehrle (Rossiter/Punxsutawney), and Jenna Fatica (Erie/Villa Maria) finished in 10:02.59, taking first place by nearly nine seconds and reaching an ECAC qualifying time.  Brittany Wallace (Sharon/Sharon) set a school record in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 11.18 seconds.  Kylie Swanson (Hermitage/Hickory) set a school record by clearing a height of 9'4.25" in the pole vault.  Katie Monoskey (Punxsutawney/Punxsutawney) set a new Behrend mark in the weight throw competition by hitting 36 feet 2.25 inches.

There were several men's athletes who stepped up as well including Eston Winn (Erie/McDowell) who hit an ECAC qualifying mark in the pole vault competition.  Winn  cleared a mark of 14 feet 3.25 inches and finished sixth against collegiate competition.  Doug Stevenson (Sharpsville/Sharpsville) ran strong in the 60 meter dash, finishing as the top Division III sprinter with a time of 7.13 seconds, while Mike Stark (Gibsonia/Pine Richland) finished seventh in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.91 seconds.  Other solid performances on the men's side included Ronson Mazany (Ashville/Panama Central) who was fifth in the long jump, Jake Holdcroft (Pittsburgh/North Allegheny) who finished eighth in the 500 meter dash, and Kevin Gorny (Erie/McDowell) who was eighth in the mile run.

Head coach Greg Cooper said, "Our coaching staff was pleased with how our athletes stepped up at this highly competitive meet.  We had a number of athletes who fared very well.  Our team has been training hard and we must continue to work hard as we will continue to face great competition at our upcoming meets." 

The Behrend Lions track and field teams will have a quick week to train before heading back into competition on February 21 at the Kenyon Invitational.