ERIE, Pa. – Hosting the annual Penn State Behrend Invitational, the Penn State Behrend men's track field team notched the victory with 328 total points. The victory was the Lions third of the season.
Joseph Neff, (North East, PA/North East) Matthew Grafton (Worthington, PA/Kittanning) and Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) all won two events each while Grafton and Obenrader also had second place finishes.
Neff won the 100m and 200m dash with times of 11.52 and 23.15, respectively. In the 110m hurdle, Grafton qualified for ECAC's and finished first with a mark of 15.55. He later won the long jump posting a leap of 21' 6.25", which broke the meet record. Grafton also took second place behind teammate Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) in the high jump. Gardner picked up the victory with a jump of 6' 3.25" while Grafton's jump was 5' 9.25".
Obenrader notched victories in the discus and javelin throw with strong performances. Once again Obenrader tallied an ECAC qualifying mark in the javelin throw with heave of 203' 10". His toss in the discus landed 140' 6.50". Finishing as the runner-up in the shot put, Obenrader recorded a mark of 44' 11".
Luke Aaron (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) and Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex) both qualified for ECAC's in the pole vault posting scores of 15' 3". Aaron won the event while Patten took second place.
Tony Antonucci (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) set a new meet record in the hammer throw. His throw of 127' 10.50" not only set the record, but earned Antonucci his first victory of the season.
Ian Griffith (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) was victorious in the 5,000m run with a time of 16:17.01 while Jarrod D'Annibahe (Erie, PA/Harbor Creek) picked up a win in the triple jump. D'Annibahe tallied a mark of 38' 0.25", good for his first victory of the season.
Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) led a cast of Behrend athletes winning the 800m dash. The Lions placed the top seven finishers. Beggs ran a time of 1:57.58, just barely beating Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy-Strong Vincent) who finished at 1:57.95.
The 3,000m steeple chase was won by Tyler Yost (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf). Yost clocked in at 10:11.49.
The Lions A and B teams were the top two finishers in the 4x400m relay. The A team consisted of Beggs, Dylan Buffington, (Brookville, PA/Brookville) Jacob Parsons (Titusville, PA/Maplewood) and Natalie, who combined to run a time of 3:35.79. The B team comprised of Jeromee Geibel, (Butler, PA/Butler) Victor Kolbin, (Westport, CT/Staples) Phil Martone (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst Prep) and Charles Dutton (King of Prussia, PA/Upper Marion) finished with a time of 3:42.07.
The Behrend squad has caught fire winning their last three events that have had team scores. Next weekend the Lions travel to Grove City and will look to keep the momentum going. The invitational will begin on Friday with events starting at 4 p.m.
