Men’s Track and Field Wins W & J Invitational

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team won the Washington and Jefferson Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions dominated the meet with 161.50 total points, more than 54 points ahead of second place.

John Cerminara (Williamsburg, VA/Jamestown) had an excellent day in the field.  The senior won the discus throw at 42.99m.  Cerminara also placed second in the shot put after hitting 13.91m.

Kevin Lesniak (Butler, PA/Knoch) competed alongside Cerminara in the shot put, coming in eighth place at 12.19m.  Lesniak also took ninth in the javelin throw with a distance of 40.62m.  Seth Weible (Johnsonburg, PA/Johnsonburg) participated in both the discus and javelin throws.  Weible placed ninth in the discus and sixth in the javelin with distances of 38.03m and 43.44m, respectively.  Joe Frederick (Bradford, PA/Bradford) was another thrower competing in the javelin, bringing home a fifth place finish at 45.21m.

Staying in the field, four Behrend athletes had great performances in the pole vault.  Dylan Bilka (Seven Fields, PA/Seneca Valley) won the event at 4.25m.  Garrett Shaw (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) was in third at 4.10m.  Chase Gehr (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley) and Matthew Miller (South Park, PA/South Park) each vaulted 3.95m.  Gehr placed fourth with Miller in fifth.

Conor MacMannis (Stafford, VA/Kubeszki) competed in three jumping events.  The sophomore took third in the high jump at 1.83m, seventh in the long jump after clearing 6.03m, and eighth in the triple jump with a distance of 12.41m.

Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) tied for third in the high jump at 1.78m.  Geoffrey Faltot (Mercer, PA/Mercer) led the way in the long jump with a third place finish at 6.54m.  Milt Sibanda (Jefferson, PA/Jefferson-Morgan) took second in the triple jump with a distance of 13.15m while Dylan Beck was in ninth at 12.17m.

On the track, Kalil Slaughter (Sheffield, PA/Sheffield) won both the 100m and 200m dashes.  Slaughter crossed the line at 11.23 in the 100m and 22.13 in the 200m.  Slaughter's time in the 200m set a new school record and qualified the freshman for ECAC's.  Denis Lydon (Plum, PA/Plum) was another Lions' winner in the 10000m.  Lydon took first with a time of 32.15.74 to qualify for ECAC's as well.

In the 400m run, Nick Marzka (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) took ninth at 52.76.  Marzka also competed in the 4x400m relay with Matt McWilliams (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf), Andres Morales (Alajuela, Costa Rica/ICS) and Kevin Lai (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood).  The four athletes took third at 3:29.36.

Morales continued to have an exceptional season in the hurdles.  Morales took third in the 400m hurdles at 58.67 and sixth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 17.06.  Lai also contended in the 400m hurdles, coming in fifth at 1:01.05.

McWilliams and Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) ran in the 800m.  McWilliams crossed the line at 1:59.16 for third place with Beggs in sixth at 2:02.34.  Both runners teamed up with Phil Martone (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) and Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) for the 4x800m relay.  The squad set a new school record and qualified for ECAC's with a time of 8:05.84.

Rounding out the top Behrend performers was Tyler Yost in the 3000m steeplechase.  Yost, the school's record holder in the event, took third at 10:20.32.

The Lions will be back in action on Saturday at 10 a.m. for the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.