Behrend Track & Field Competes at SPIRE

GENEVA, OH - The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team competed at SPIRE Saturday afternoon hosted by Carnegie Mellon.

The Lions had 11 top 10 finishes throughout the course of the day, inclduing a first place finish by Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex) in the pole vault. The senior recorded a 4.97m jump (16'3") to take the first-place crown.

Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) took first place in the shot put with a throw of 16.09m (52'8")

Devin Ross (Shenango, PA/Shenango) and Matthew Grafton (Worthington, PA/Kittanning) earned two top 10 finishes. Ross finished seventh in the 400m dash after posting a time of 51:87.2 time. He then, along with Grafton, was a part of the 4x400 team that finished seventh with a time of 3:32.67. Also on the 4x400 team was Michael Cross (Fairview, PA/Fairview) and Grant Rodgers (Oil City, PA/Oil City).

Grafton also finished third in the 60m hurdles, posting a 8.52 time. In the preliminary round, Grafton broke the school record with a time of 8.46.

Marcus Haesler (North East, PA/North) added an eighth place finish in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.09.

Alex Kubala (Pittsburgh, PA/North Hills) finished the 5000m race with a 16:42.75 time, putting him in ninth palce.

Behrend will compete again next Saturday, January 28, when they travel to the Brockport Meet beginning at 10 a.m.