Men's Track and Field Takes First at Westminster

NEW WILMNINGTON, Pa. - For the second straight week the Penn State Behrend men's track and field team notched a first place team finish. The Lions took first in a field of twenty teams and posted a team score of 112.50.

Behrend dominated the pole vault competition placing three of the top four competitors and four in the top seven. Luke Aaron (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) won the event posting a mark of 4.50m (14'9") while teammate Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex) took second place with 4.35m (14' 3.25"). Bobby Monteparte (Jeannette, PA/Hempfield) earned fourth place with 4.20m (14' 9.25") and Levi Varner (Middletown, PA/Middletown) rounded out the group with 3.90m (12' 9.5"), good for a seventh place finish.

Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) posted his third straight victory in the javelin throw with a heave of 63.27m (207' 7"). He also provided a second place finish in the discus throw and a third place finish in the shot put. Obenrader tallied 46.69m (153' 2") in the discus throw and 14.21m (46' 7.5") in the shot put.

Eclipsing a mark of 2.00m, Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) picked up a second place in the high jump.

The 4x100m relay team notched a third place finish running a time of 43.83 in the final round. The team consisted of Greg Graf, (South Park, PA/South Park) Joseph Neff, (North East, PA/North East) Matthew Grafton (Worthington, PA/Kittanning) and Patten.

Grafton also turned up an eighth place finish in the 400m dash. He carded a time of 50.80.

A trio of Lions runners led by Dylan Buffington (Brookville, PA/Brookville) paced Behrend in the 800m run. Buffington ran a 1:55.37 for second place. Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) and Alan Yocca (Plum, PA/Plum) took fourth and sixth place, respectively. Beggs ran a 1:57.07 while Yocca sprinted to a mark of 1:59.38.

Two Lions earned top eight finishes in the 1500m dash. Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy-Strong Vincent) picked up second place with a time of 4:11.98 while Yocca earned eighth place running a time of 4:13.32.

Earning a fourth place finish in the 110 hurdles, Grafton tallied a time of 15.53.

In the 3,000m steeplechase, four Lions earned points with top ten finishes. Tyler Yost (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) led the group in fourth place posting a mark of 10:19.78. Aaron Peters (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) took sixth place with a time of 10:30.65. Cody Cornell (Conneaut Lake, PA/Conneaut Lake) and Ian Griffith (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) rounded out the group with seventh and eighth place finishes. Cornell posted a time of 10:34.87 and Griffith ran a 10:37.41.

With two straight victories under their belt, the Lions gear up for a visit to the Cortland Classic starting next Friday in Cortland, NY. Friday's events with start at 4 p.m.