Juniata track teams compete at Messiah meet; Parker breaks Juniata record in 1500m at Bucknell Classic

GRANTHAM, Pa. – Several Juniata College men’s and women’s track and field performers showed improvement just two weeks out from the Landmark Conference championship meet, during competition at Saturday’s Messiah College Invitational at Shoemaker Field track.

Caroline Morgan (Havertown, Pa./Haverford Township) had one of the top two women’s finishes of the day, placing second in the 10,000m run with a time of 40:01.27. Also on the track, Alyssa Grube (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) was fifth in the 1500m run in a time of 5:11.71, while Erika Brown (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) was seventh in the 100m hurdles with a time of 17.65 seconds. 

Juniata’s 4 x 400m relay squad of Grube, Kate Brown (Manchester, Mich./Manchester), Caitlyn Pingatore (Windber, Pa./Windber) and Mary Howser (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) finished third out of six teams, posting a time of 4:23.73. The Eagles’ 4 x 100m team of Evelyn Edwards (Carbondale, Pa./Carbondale), Erika Brown, Rose Lucidi (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) and Pingatore was fourth, recording a time of 52.32 seconds.

In the field events, Erika Brown was second in the high jump after clearing a height of 4-11 ¾. Kristyn Ginter (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) was third in the javelin with a throw of 116-02, and finished fourth in the hammer with a mark of 116-05. She was also eighth in the discus, with a best mark of 97-3.

Finally, Chelsey Beaver (Shamokin Dam, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) was fourth in the shot put with a throw of 36-1 ½.

The men’s team was paced by Justin Herr’s (Mountaintop, Pa./Crestwood) throw of 42-4 ¼ to finish third in the triple jump, along with a pair of fourth-place finishes from Aaron McCoy (Muncy, Pa./Hughesville). McCoy finished fourth in both the 100m dash (11.17 seconds) and the 200m dash (22.71) .

Vinny Smith (Butler, Pa./Mars) posted a time of 16.09 seconds in the 110m hurdles to finish fifth in the event. Trevor Stephens (Bethesda, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) finished sixth in the 1500m run with a time of 4:14.08, while Nate Alter (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) was sixth in the 5000m run in a time of 16:18.28. Dan Hoover also logged a sixth-place finish, his coming in the 400m hurdles with a time of 61.14. Smith was eighth in a time of 61.85. 

Finally, Nick Trapane (Thurmont, Md./Catoctin) was sixth in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:48.27.

Juniata’s 4 x 800m relay team of Stephens, Connor Robinson (Asheville, N.C./Asheville), Ryan Trexler (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area), and Nik Klena (Franklin, Pa./Oil City) came in second with a time of 8:24.08.

In the field events, Nick Bauer (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) was fourth in the long jump with a mark of 21-7 ½.  Justin Clapper also had a pair of top six performances, finishing fifth in the hammer (127-10) and sixth in the discus (129-4).

Three Juniata competitors were at the Bucknell Outdoor Classic in Lewisburg, Pa.

Senior Ceth Parker (Sabillasville, Md./Catoctin) headlined the group with a Juniata record time of 3:56.38 in the 1500m. He finished 27th overall in the event, and his time currently ranks 19^th in Division III.

Jack Iosue (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) competed in the javelin throw and finished sixth with a throw of 188-6.

Katrina Woods (Shirleysburg, Pa./Mount Union) ran in the women’s 1500m at Bucknell, posting a time of 4:49.76. That time is only one second off her time from the Lynchburg College Dr. Jack Toms Open at the beginning of the outdoor season.

Juniata will compete at the Moravian College Greyhound Invitational next Friday and Saturday, April 20-21, in Bethlehem, Pa.

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