Three Fayette T&F records fall; fourth set

Three Penn State Fayette track and field records fell Saturday at the Westminster Invitational while a fourth was established.

"Despite the crazy weather that included rain, snow and hail, the athletes continue to improve and that's the goal of any athlete and coach," said head coach Joe Carei. "It was a huge meet, so performance outweighed placement.  We are still learning, but the athletes are seeing things come together."

James Plez (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast HS) broke two of his own school records as he jumped 5.99 meters in the long jump and ran the 100 meters in 11.87 seconds.  He also ran the 200 meters in 24.8 seconds. 

Mitch Minda (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward HS) bested his school record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:54 while Chloe Kalp (Melcroft, PA/Connellsville HS) established a school record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 42:35.  She is the first woman in program history to run the race.  Kalp also ran the 800 meters in 2:48.

Other runners of note included Cooper Salvay (LaBelle, PA/Brownsville HS), Ethan Mates (Mt. Pleasant, PA/Mt. Pleasant HS), Julie Seliga (Smock, PA/Uniontown HS) and Alex Gostev (Fair Lawn, NJ).  Salvay ran the 100 meters in 11.99 and the 200 meter in 24.73, Mates ran the 800 meters in 2:24, Seliga ran the 800 meters in 3:01 and the 1,500 meters in 6:00 while Gostev ran the 1,500 meters in 5:01.

Jennifer Zelenick (Fredericktown, PA/Beth-Center HS) and Jake Noel (Greater Latrobe, PA/Greater Latrobe, PA) had a good showing in the throwing portion of the invitational.  Zelenick had a 7.35 meters throw in the shot put and a discus throw of 20.56 meters.  Noel had a throw of 7.28 meters in the shot put.

The team returns to action at the Thiel College Tomcat Invitational on April 16.

For more information on the Penn State track and field team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/track/index or follow the team on Instagram @fayetteathletics.