Men’s Track and Field Finishes in Second at Mason Dixon Championships

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team tied the program's best finish at the Mason-Dixon Championships, coming in second out of eight teams.

The Lions were led by senior John Cerminara (Williamsburg, VA/Jamestown) in the field events.  Cerminara qualified for ECAC's in both the shot and discus after winning each event.  Cerminara hit 14.24m in the shot and 45.17m in the discus. 

Seth Weible (Johnsonburg, PA/Johnsonburg) also had an excellent day in the field.  Weible took third in the discus at 41.31m and fourth in the javelin at 47.09m.

In the pole vault, Dylan Bilka (Seven Fields, PA/Seneca Valley) and Anthony Paterno (Butler, PA/Butler) placed in the top-5.  Bilka took second at 4.30m while Paterno tied for fourth at 4.00m.

Geoffrey Faltot (Mercer, PA/Mercer) and Milt Sibanda (Jefferson, PA/Jefferson-Morgan) contended in the long jump and triple jump, respectively.  Faltot took fifth in the long jump after leaping 6.25m.  Sibanda came in fourth in the triple jump at 12.98m.  Bilka also competed in the triple jump, placing fifth at 12.88m.

On the track, Kalil Slaughter (Sheffield, PA/Sheffield) qualified for ECAC's in two events.  Slaughter placed third in both the 100m and 200m.  In the 100m he crossed the line at 11.01 and finished the 200m in 22.04.

Denis Lydon (Plum, PA/Plum), Tyler Yost (Waterford, PA/Waterford), and Brian Lauff (McDonald, PA/Fort Cherry) all had second place finishes for Behrend.  Lydon was the runner-up in the 5000m at 15:47.02.  In the 3000m steeplechase, Yost was just behind the leader at 9:58.23 and in the 110m hurdles, Lauff took second at 16.14. 

Andres Morales (Alajuela, Costa Rica/ICS) competed in both hurdling events for the Lions.  Morales took third in the 110m hurdles at 16.77 and fourth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.20.

Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) and Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) rounded out the top performers for Behrend in the 800m and the 1500m.  Beggs took third in the 800m at 2:00.93 with Natalie taking fifth in the 1500m at 4:09.32.

Four more athletes qualified for ECAC's in the 4x100m relay.  The team of Morales, Faltot, Slaughter, and Kevin Lai (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) took third at 42.85.

The Lions will be back in action on Friday at the Allegheny Gator Invitational.