Dec. 1, 2006
Men's Results
Women's Results
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette men's and women's track and field teams kicked off the 2006-07 indoor season with their annual Lafayette Invitational inside the Kirby Sports Center on Friday evening. In addition to the host Leopards, Moravian, East Stroudsburg, and St. Joseph's also competed in the meet.
Although the meet was not scored, Lafayette topped many of the individual and relay standings. Junior Kristen Kalinowski began the day for the Leopards when she jumped 5'5" to win the high jump. Also recording a solid performance was defending Patriot League champion Leigh Kalinowski, whose jump of 5-3" was good enough for a third place finish behind Natalie Miller of St. Joseph's.
The Leopards continued to flex their muscles in the field events when junior Emily Cholak picked up right where she left off at the end of last year's campaign, which ended with a Patriot League championship in the triple jump. The Edinboro, Pa. native took the long jump competition, leaping 16'7 3/4". Cholak finished her perfect day when the junior biochemistry major jumped 35'8 3/4" in the triple jump.
The Lafayette women's throwing corps rode the Leopard momentum. In the shot put, the squad swept the second through fifth spots, including a personal best from junior Andrea Cerbie, who placed second with a throw of 41'7". Sophomore Sue Izevbigie (41'1 1/2"), junior Pam Glennon (40'10 1/4"), and freshman Vicky Melroy (39'3") followed Cerbie.
Senior Vanessa Youngs recorded a personal best on the day. The Mount Vernon, N.Y. native tallied a fifth place finish in the 220 yard dash, before winning the 60 yard dash with a time of 7.37 seconds in the finals. The runners also received strong results from senior Lauren Phelps (1:02.35) and freshman Lauren Hall (1:03.72) in the 440 yard dash, good enough for a second and third place finishes, respectively.
Like the women, the Lafayette men's team also turned in striking results in the Invitational. Freshman William Braswell won his preliminary race with a time of 6.53, before being held out of the final with a hamstring injury. However, the Leopards showed their depth by taking three of the top four spots in the event. Senior Andre Alleyne (6.71), freshman Kyle Clayton (6.74) and sophomore Kyle DeFranceschi (6.90) placed second, third, and fourth, respectively in the first dash of the season.
Junior Ever Ruiz recorded a second-place finish in the 440 yard dash, crossing the finish line at 53.00 seconds. Ruiz returned later in the evening and along with Bradley Williams, Adam Ballester, and Rob Blum, the Leopards took home first place in the 4x440 yard relay with a time of 3:30.68 in the final event of the Invitational.
Another event in which the Leopards revealed their depth was the 880 yard run. Junior Pete Reynolds (1:56.48), along with classmates Brian Vail (1:58.63) and Aaron Buchman (1:59.13), and sophomore Robert Blum (1:59.63) swept the top four spots of the event. The Leopards managed to come away with the top three places in the men's triple jump. Led by senior Steve Ekema-Agbaw (45'3 3/4"), Lafayette was received a second-place finish from Adam Jones (45'3 1/2") and a third-place finish from Williams (43"9 1/4").
The men's throwing squad also were marked with notable performances. Senior Tyler Jones showed he has every intention of defending his Patriot League championship in the shot put, when he threw for an IC4A qualifying 52'5 1/4". Jones also managed to record a victory in the weight throw, tossing for a mark of 55'8 1/2". Second place finishes from freshman Connor McGee in the shot put (46'3 1/4") and sophomore Sean McAuley in the weight throw (43'11 1/4") were also pleasing head coach Julio Piazza.
The Leopards will continue to go through their regimen and get everyone ready to go for the heart of the indoor season. Lafayette will next compete in the Army Invitational on Jan. 6 in West Point, N.Y.
