LORETTO, Pa. (January 22, 2007) - The Saint Francis University track and field teams both found success at the Bucknell Heptagonal Indoor Meet this weekend. The women's team finished in second place with a team score of 90 points. The only school to score higher was Bucknell, with 256 points. The men's team finished with 110 team points, which put them in third place. Bucknell (161) and Shippensburg (132) finished first and second respectively on the men's side.
Overall, the women student-athletes won four individual events, and set two new school records. The men won three events, and set two school records as well. Junior Brittini Smallwood (Somerset, N.J./Bishop George) and junior Kora Hardy (Salisbury, Md./James M. Benett) tied for first in the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.25. They now share the school record in the event.
Senior Erika Jacobs (Toronto, Ontario/West Hill Collegiate) won the 1000 meter run beating the previous school record by more than four seconds. Freshman Anna Hoffman (Enon Valley, Pa./Mohawk) won the 5000 meter run with a time of 18:02.20. That gives her the third best time in school history. Freshman Sarah Harmon (Quantico, Md./James M. Benett) recorded the third best time in Red Flash history in the 55 meter hurdles, completing the event in 8.49 seconds.
In the field senior Diane Gmiter (Pittsburgh, Pa./Laurel Highlands) won the shot and took third in the weight throw. Junior Lisa Morse (Freedom, N.Y./Pioneer Central) took second place in the shot with a throw of 47-1.75. Senior Kayla Herron (Cumberland, Ohio/John Glenn) placed second in the weight with a throw of 56-1.
The men also had their fair share of winners. Freshman Mikko Aronopaa (Toivala, Finland/Kaopion Klassillinen Lukio) set a new Red Flash record while placing first in the long jump. He also placed third in the 55 meter dash. Freshman Kenyan Hicks (Painted Post, N.Y./CPP West High School) placed second in the 55 meter hurdles, for a school record in the event.
Junior John Balouris (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) won the 800 meter run in a time of 1:55.17. Junior Ian Butcher (Georgetown, Ontario/Christ the King) ran the 400 meter dash in 49.03 which gave him second place. The Red Flash 4x400m relay team of Freshman Keith Onto (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Borough), senior James Bush (Baltimore, Md.), Balouris, and sophomore Jorden Davis (Mississauga, Ontario/Loyola Catholic) took second place.
In the field sophomore Ben Maderia (Summerhill, Pa./Forest Hills) placed first in the shot with a throw of 52-6.5. He also finished in third place in the weight with a distance of 53-5. Sophomore Will Velez (Cleveland, Ohio/Benedictine) took second place in the high jump, and sophomore Dylan DeWyngaert (Red Bank, N.J./Red Bank) placed second in the weight throw.
Saint Francis travels back to Bucknell on January 26th for the Bucknell University Open.
