Jan. 20, 2013
Gulden Invitational Results
LEWISBURG, Pa. -The Lafayette Track & Field team traveled to Lewisburg, Pa. on Saturday to participate in the Gulden Invitational at Bucknell University. The women took third place while the men finished in sixth out of nine teams.
Lewisburg, Pa. native Elise Buffintonbroke her own school record and won the women's pole vault with a jump of 12' 3 ½". The junior's former personal best was 12' 1 ½", set at the 2012 ECAC Championships.
Also on the women's side, junior Rachel Pena (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) took first in the 20-pound weight throw with a toss of 56' 10 ¼". She also set a new personal record, beating her previous throw by two feet. Fellow Leopard, senior Gwen Steckel(Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh), finished second in the same event with a throw of 53' 4 ¼".
Pena also added a second place in the shot put with a season-best throw of 41' 7 ¼". Freshman Sarah Talmadge(Newark, N.J./Mt. St. Dominic's Academy) added a fifth place finish for Lafayette in the shot put with a personal best of 39' 8 ½".
The Lafayette underclassmen had strong showings in many other events for the women's team. Freshman Erica Swintonran a personal best in 60m hurdles to grab a third-place finish with a time of 9.07.
The 4x400m relay team notched a third place finish with a time of 3:57.33. Freshmen Erin Keen (Churchville, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie) and Devin Smith (Andover, N.J./Pope John XXIII) and seniors Chelsea Marone (Boonton Twp., N.J./Mountain Lakes) and Megan Matusky(Ardmore, N.J./Haverford) made up the team that set a season-best time.
Sophomore Grace Watters(Red Bank, N.J./Middletown South) added a fifth place finish for the Leopards in the 1,000m, recording a time of 3:02.17.
For the men, senior Nick Hepp (Sarasota, Fla./The Out of Door Academy) recorded two IC4A-qualifying performances. He ran 22.53 in the 200m, good for a fifth place finish and a slot in the IC4A. His second qualifying time was as a member of the 4x400m relay team. That team, consisting of junior Bill Leonard, senior Chris Parker, and freshman Jarrel Bobb, placed third with a time of 3:23.02.
The Lafayette men posted a number of other top six scoring marks as well. Freshman Pat Donohue leaped a season-best 6' 2 ¾" in the high jump, grabbing a third-place finish.
Senior Nick Orzolfinished fourth in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.65.
Other sixth place finishes were added by senior Dayne Mosconi in the mile (4:20.22), junior Mac Maguire in the 35-pound weight throw (48' 2 ½"), and Jarrel Bobbin the triple jump (45' ½").
The Leopards will return to action Saturday Jan. 26 in the annual Lafayette-Lehigh Dual Meet in Bethlehem. The event will kick off at Rauch Field House at 2 p.m.
