NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team won the Westminster Invitational on Saturday afternoon with a team score of 131.
Denis Lydon (Plum, PA/Plum) led the Lions with a first place finish in the 5000m run. Lydon set a new school record with a time of 15:34.24, taking first place as well. Jason Zabelsky (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) also ran the 5000m. Zabelsky finished in 10th place at 16:33.52.
In the 110m hurdles, Brian Lauff (McDonald, PA/Fort Cherry) brought home another first place for Behrend, finishing in 16.27. Billy Cvecko (Erie, PA/McDowell) took third in the 800m run, crossing the line at 1:59.68.
Cody Bupp (Warren, PA/Warren) continued to build on his strong season with a fifth place finish in the 400m hurdles. Bupp finished with a time of 58.99.
In the 1500m run, Andrew Mason (Wilmington, DE/Concord) had a good outing. Mason placed sixth at 4:16.39. Braden Davis (Butler, PA/Butler) and Tim Karls (Butler, PA/Butler) ran well in the 3000m steeplechase. Davis took sixth place with Mason close behind in eighth. The duo finished with times of 11:12.73 and 11:16.34 respectively.
In the sprinting events, the Lions had three athletes in the top-10. Geoffrey Faltot (Mercer, PA/Mercer) placed 10th in the 100m dash at 11.78. In the 400m dash, Anthony Munion (Oakmont, PA/Riverview) and Nick Marzka (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) placed ninth and 10th respectively. Munion finished in 53.35 with Marzka on his heels at 53.44.
Munion, Bupp, Cvecko, and Jibreel Oliver (Silver Spring, MD/Georgetown Day School) teamed up for the 4x400m relay. The squad took third place, finishing in 3:32.06.
In the field events, Behrend had dominate day. Four athletes placed in the top-six in the pole vault. Garrett Shaw (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) won the event at 4.42m. Dylan Bilka (Seven Fields, PA/Seneca Valley) took second, clearing 4.40m. Matthew Miller (South Park, PA/South Park) and Hunter Zudans (West Chester, PA/West Chester Rustin) also had tremendous performances. Miller vaulted over 4.11m for fifth place. Zudans cleared 3.66m for sixth.
Conor MacMannis (Fredericksburg, VA/Kubeszki) won the high jump after clearing 1.88m. MacMannis also competed in the triple jump. He took seventh at 12.09m. Joshua Armstrong (Grove City, PA/Grove City) took fourth in the high jump with a height of 1.83m. Dylan Beck (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) took home another first place the Lions in the triple jump at 13.16m.
Faltot placed second in the long jump after leaping 6.46m. Beck also competed in the long jump, taking sixth place with a distance of 5.99m.
John Cerminara (Williamsburg, VA/Jamestown) had a strong day in the throwing events. In the shot put, Cerminara took second place with a distance of 13.72m. He also placed second in the discus throw at 42.98m.
Seth Weible (Johnsonburg, PA/Johnsonburg) competed in the discus throw as well. Weible hit 38.82m for seventh place. In the javelin throw, Alex Yaegle (Russell, PA/Eisenhower) hit a distance of 49.29m for fifth place.
Behrend will be back in action on Saturday at the IUP Invitational.
