GAMBIER, Oh. – The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team had a magnificent day notching five victories and two second place finishes at the Kenyon Invitational Saturday afternoon. Five victories are the most the track and field team has had this season.
Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) picked up the victory in the high jump for the second straight week. Gardner leaped for a mark of 2.05m, a new school record and currently in the Top Ten in Division III. Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) qualified for ECAC's and notched his first victory of the season winning the shotput competition with a heave of 15.46m.
A quartet of Behrend Lions added Top Ten finishes in the pole vault. Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex) led the group earning first place posting 4.62m and qualified for ECAC's. The mark currently sits in the top 32 in the nation. In fourth place, Luke Aaron (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) tallied 4.27m. Levi Varner (Middletown, PA/Middletown) took fifth place also tallying 4.27m. Behind Aaron and Varner, Bobby Monteparte (Jeannette, PA/Hempfield) put up 4.12m, good for sixth place.
Dylan Buffington (Brookville, PA/Brookville) and Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) notched the top two places in the one mile run. Buffington took first running a 4:26.18 while Beggs finished second with a time of 4:26.68.
Matthew Grafton (Worthington, PA/Kittanning) took first place in the 400 meter dash carding a time of 52.22. Teammate Greg Graf (South Park, PA/South Park) finished three spots behind Natalie in fifth place with a time of 53.06.
In the 800 meter run Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy-Strong Vincent) emerged victorious running a time of 2:00.37. After a second place finish in the one mile run, Beggs impressed again with a third place finish. He notched a time of 2:04.00. Phil Martone (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) finished on the heels of Beggs in fourth place just .15 seconds behind his teammate.
Buffington earned another to five finish in the 5,000m run taking third place with a time of 16:05. Also earning third place, Alan Yocca (Plum, PA/Plum) posted a time of 9:04.10 in the 3,000m run.
In the long jump Patten earned a top five finish leaping 6.01m for fifth place. Joseph Neff (North East, PA/North East) took ninth place in the competition with a jump of 5.91m. Neff also took eighth in the 200 meter dash. He ran a 23.97.
The 4x200 relay team qualified for ECAC's earning a third place finish.
The Lions have a week off and then return March 6 for the ECAC Championships. The two-day event will take place in New York, New York with starting times of 10 a.m. both days.
