Men's Track & Field Takes CSAC Crown; Obenrader Earns Field MVP Honors

GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team captured the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) championship in their inaugural season in the league with a combined score of 317, 159 points ahead of second-place finisher Keystone with 158 points.

Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) was named the field MVP of the championship, racking up 40 total points. He won all four throwing events he participated in and broke school records in the javelin (221' 5") and hammer throw (143' 9"). Obenrader won discus with a distance of 147' 2" and the shot put with a distance of 52' 10.75".

Matt McWilliams (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf), Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Strong Vincent), Cody Cornell (Conneaut Lake, PA/Conneaut Lake) and Dylan Buffington (Brookville, PA/Brookville) took a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 800m. They ran times of 1:54.79, 1:55.76, 1:57.19 and 1:57.66 respectively.

In the 1500m, McWilliams picked up another win with a time of 4:06.08 while Buffington, Natalie and Cornell finished second, third and fourth with times of 4:20.59, 4:22.11 and 4:24.87 respectively.

Ian Griffith (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) won the 10000m, posting a time of 34:22.99. He then took fourth in the 5000m with a time of 16:33.37. Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) finished in second, ahead of Griffith, in the 5000m, finishing in 16:03.59.

The 110m hurdles was another 1-2-3-4 finish for the Lions. Matthew Grafton (Worthington, PA/Kittanning) took first in 15.52, Joshua Burns (St. Mary's, PA/St. Mary's Area) finished second in 15.70, Colby Tarr (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands) took third in 16.01 and Marcus finished fourth with a time of 17.15.

Tarr and Burns then took first and second in the 400m hurdles, posting times of 57.62 and 58.12 respectively. Jarrod Lipsey (Kersey, PA/St. Mary's Area), Aaron Peters (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) and Griffith placed second, third and fourth respectively. Lipsey posted a 10:05.18, Peters ran a 10:05.35 and Griffith finished in 10:16.01.

Both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams won as well. The 4x100 team of Joseph Neff (North East, PA/North East), Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf), Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex) and Grafton posted a time of 42.97, and the 4x400 team of Devin Ross (Shenango, PA/Shenango), Grafton, Shane MacMahon (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin) and Cornell finished in 3:27.78.

In field events, Gardner won the high jump with a height of 6' 2.75" and Patten won the pole vault, raising 14' 10.25" to clear the bar. Gardner also won the long jump with a distance of 20' 7.75".

Gardner, Patten and Ryan Horstman (Butler, PA/Butler) took a 4-5-6 finish in the triple jump with distances of 42' 8.75", 42' 1.5" and 42' 1.25" respectively.

The Lions run again at Allegheny on Friday as one last tune up before the ECAC championships. The meet starts at 1 p.m.