T&F tunes up for national championships

With the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) track & field national championships less than two weeks away, the Penn State Fayette Nittany Lions had their last tune-up on Wednesday, April 30 at the John Falconi Invitational at Bethany College.  After the event, Fayette head coach Joe Carei shared his view.

"We didn't bring everyone so that some people could rest and heal up (heading into the USCAA championships), but it went well," he said. "We tried on new events for fun, and despite the shakeup, most (student-athletes) recorded personal records in their regular events.  We faced a lot of Division II and Division III competition and saw several top-five finishes."

The Nittany Lions had ninth top-five finishes, including Drew Erdman (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Salem HS) finished second in the steeplechase (12.01), Gavin Postlethwait (New Martinsville, WV/Magnolia HS) took third in the triple jump (11.77 meters) and in the 100 meters while finishing fourth in the 200 meters.  Jake Noel (Greater Latrobe, PA/Greater Latrobe, PA) took third in the hammer (22.49), James Plez (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast HS) took fourth in the 100 meters, Chloe Kalp (Melcroft, PA/Connellsville HS) finished fourth in the 3,000 kilometers (11:48), Mitch Minda (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward HS) took fifth in 800 meters (2:09) and Logan Miller (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands HS) finished fifth in the pole vault (2.59).

Other race times included Julie Seliga (Smock, PA/Uniontown HS) running a 1:17 in the 400 meters and a 2:59 in the 800 meters, Kalp ran the 800 meters in 2:47, Noel ran the 100 meters in 13.47 and the 200 meters in 27.85, Minda ran the 1,500 meters in 4:28, Miller ran the 100 meters in 14.77, and Plez ran the 200 meters in 24.66.

Jen Zelenick (Fredericktown, PA/Beth-Center HS) threw the discus 22.40, the hammer 25.08 meters, the shot put 7.62 and the javelin 20 meters while Noel threw the javelin 26.41 meters.  Postlethwait scaled the high jump in 1.78 meters and the triple jump in 11.7 meters, Noel threw the javelin 26.41 meters, and Plez reached 11.05 in the triple jump and 5.89 in the long jump.

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.