Men's Track & Field Take Fourth at ECAC Championships; Obenrader Wins Twice

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Penn State Behrend men's outdoor track & field team finished in fourth place out of 31 teams with 48 total points at the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships on Thursday.

The Lions, who were in fourth place after day one, stayed in that spot by adding 24 points to their first-day total to earn their highest finish in program history at the outdoor meet. Farmingdale State won with 85 points, followed by Stevenson in second (57) and Brandeis in third (54).

Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) was a two-time champion this afternoon. After claiming the javelin title a year ago, the senior won the shot put and discus to be named the ECAC Champion and All-Conference. He hit the mark of 17.61m (57-09.50) in the shot put and then posted a personal record of 48.77m (160-0) in the discus for his second gold medal.

Marcus Haesler (North East, PA/North East) was All-ECAC in the 110m hurdles with a fifth-place finish in 16.19. Kurt Eberhardt (Gibsonia, PA/Hampton) also earned All-ECAC with eighth place in the 100m (11.08).

Eberhardt then joined Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex), Grant Rodgers (Oil City, PA/Oil City) and Oluwaseun Babalola (Westbury, NY/St. Anthony's) for an eighth-place finish in the 4x100 relay.

The Lions will await the selection to the NCAA Championships next weekend at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio.