Lions Achieve Best Ever Finish at ECAC Outdoor Championships
The Penn State Behrend men’s track and field team took to the Ned Harkness Field and Track for the second and final day of the 2014 Eastern College Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
TROY, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team took to the Ned Harkness Field and Track for the second and final day of the 2014 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Outdoor Championships on Friday at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The Lions achieved the best mark in program history at today's title meet. Behrend finished eighth overall out of 52 programs with 32 team points.
Malik Moffett-Pulliam (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) was victorious in the 100 meter dash, tying a Behrend Outdoor record he set yesterday with a time of 10.61 seconds. The freshman entered the meet ranked 11th in the nation in the 100 by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) and 13th in the nation by the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS).
Pulliam then broke another school record, this time in the 200 meter dash, with a second-place finishing time of 21.49 seconds. He came in ranked 18th by the USTFCCA and 19th by the TFRRS in the 200. In total, the freshman earned the Lions 18 team points.
Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin), Michael Smolinski (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny), Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy – Strong Vincent), and Matt McWilliams (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) earned Behrend eight more team points with a second overall finish in the 4x800 meter relay event. In doing so, the foursome shattered a school record that was set earlier this month.
Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) was second in his flight and 15th overall in the shot put with a distance of 14.55 meters. That mark set yet another Behrend outdoor record.
In the 400 meter hurdles, Andres Morales (Alajuela, Costa Rica/ICS) posted a seventh place finish in his section with a time of 1:00.35.
Matthew Grafton (Worthington, PA/Kittanning), Kevin Lai (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood), Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex), and Moffett-Pulliam finished 10th out of 25 teams in the 4x100 meter relay event at 43.07 seconds.
In the high jump, Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) and Moffett-Pulliam were part of a 12th place tie as each reached a height of 1.91 meters. Both Gardner and Moffett-Pulliam entered the meet ranked 37th in the nation by the TFRRS in the event.
Seth Weible (Johnsonburg, PA/Johnsonburg) finished sixth in his section of the discus throw with a distance of 41.11 meters.