T&F gears up for USCAA championships with win
Philippi, WV - The Penn State Fayette Track & Field team geared up for the USCAA National Championships this coming weekend by winning the two-day Battler Invitational over Alderson Broaddus and West Virginia Wesleyan.
"The meet was a good confidence booster for the USCAA National Invitational," said coach Joe Carei. "We continue to produce personal records and gain experience, so every meet is a success."
The Nittany Lions had five first place finishes and had a lot of depth, especially in the weight events.
"I am proud of the weight team, who had to travel two consecutive days, but managed to get us a lot of points."
Fayette took the top two spots in the hammer as Tyler Zeleneck (Fredricktown, PA/Beth-Center HS) won it with a throw of 35.15 meters and Hunter Scott finished second with a throw of 30.03 meters.
On the women's side, Siteri Tale (Uniontown/Laurel Highlands HS) threw 26.84 meters.
In the shotput, the Fayette men's team took third, fourth and fifth with Craig Weaver (Newfreeport, PA/West Greene HS) taking third with a throw on 11.14 meters while Anei Toaisi (Suva, Fiji, Uniontown HS) took second in the women's with a put of 10.49 meters.
PJ Savini (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands HS) won the men's Pole Vault with a jump of 2.28 meters.
Fayette had the top two finishers in the 400 hurdles and Michael Elliot (Clarksville, PA/Beth-Center HS) won it in 1:04 and Aaron Mylan (Rices Landing, PA/Jefferson-Morgan HS) finished second.
The team was helped out with a second, third and fourth place finish in the 3,000 meters as Mitch Minda (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward HS) finished second in a time of 9:54, Nyoah Marteny (Perryopolis, PA/Frazier) finished third and Drew Erdman (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Salem HS) took fourth.
Fayette also took first and second in the Javelin throw as Lucas Klorczyk won it with a throw of 48.87 meters and Josh Crayton (Uniontown, PA/Uniontown HS) was second with a toss of 41.58 meters.
The Nittany Lions clinched the victory in the 4x400 relay as it was the last race of the day Saturday as Hayden Rhodes (Brownsville, PA/Brownsville HS), Dakota Mikita, Jake Reilly and Elliott won uncontested in 4:24.
The team heads to Vermont Tech this weekend for the USCAA National Championships.
For more information on the track and field team, to go https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/track/index.
Written by Bill Hughes