ALLIANCE, Ohio – It was a big day for the Penn State Behrend track and field program as the team performed well at the 2011 Jim Wuske Open taking place at Mount Union's Peterson Fieldhouse, Saturday.
On the men's side, Denny Lydon took third and sixth place honors in the 3000m race (9:12.69) and the 5k race (16:06.84), respectively, while Mike Stark lit-up the track clocking the 55 Hurdles at 7.92 seconds.
The rest of the evening was dominated by field events. First, Stark returned to the spotlight breaking Behrend's pole vault record by setting a new height at 14' 11.5''. Next up was Mike Johnson who placed fifth in the high jump competition. Johnson reached a best 6' 0.75''. In the long jump event, Ronson Mazany soared 22' 5'' for a Lions team best. John Cerminara ended the field events heaving the shot put an amazing 44' 1.5'' and earned a 6th place finish.
The women had a slightly different, but equally as effective outcome as many Lion runners finished high in the standings. Behrend's DMR squad which included Alex Falvo, Amanda Niebauer, Elizabeth Masteller and Jamie Szramowski clocked in at 14:43.78. Liz Keller took to the one-mile race and placed 7th and Jenna Fatica finished 3rd in the 800m earning a time of 2:20.69 while Katie Spade ran the 500m in 1:24.85.
In the women's field events, Kylie Swanson set a new school record by reaching 9' 6.5'' in the pole vault competition.
The Penn State Behrend track and field program will head to the Cornell Invitational Feb. 12.
