CALIFORNIA, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend men's track and field team kicked off their outdoor season Saturday afternoon at the Cal U Early Bird Invitational.

Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA/North Clarion) continued his stellar year in the shot put by winning the event Saturday. He tossed a distance of 16.68 meters (54'8.75"), nearly a foot farther than the second place finisher.

Brian Hazel (Pittsburgh, PA/Keystone Oaks) also placed in the shot put, coming in seventh with a distance of 12.30 meters (40'4.25").

Matthew Grafton (Worthington, PA/Kittanning) had a huge day for the Lions. He won the 110 meter hurdles with an ECAC qualifying and personal-best time of 14.98. He was just .22 second shy of the school record. He then ran the 400 meter hurdles, also taking first place, in a time of 53.31 which set a new school record.

Colby Tarr (Uniontown, PA/Laurel Highlands) and Marcus Haesler (North East, PA/North East) also took top-10 finishes in the 110 hurdle race. Tarr finished in 15.90 for eighth while Haesler came in just behind him with a time of 15.95 and a ninth-place finish.

Tarr also placed in the 400 meter hurdles, coming in seventh with a time of 58:36. 

Grafton then teamed up with Kurt Eberhardt (Gibsonia, PA/Hampton), Luke Patten (West Midlesex, PA/West Middlesex), and Grant Rodgers (Oil City, PA/Oil City) in the 4x100 meter relay. They qualified for ECACs while on their way to a third-place finish with a time of 42.67.

In distance, Chris Drozynski (Stoneboro, PA/Lakeview) came in seventh-place in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:11.93. Alex Kubala (Pittsburgh, PA/North Hills) ran the 5000 in a time of 16:33.05, placing seventh.

Ian Griffith (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) placed seventh in the 10000 meter run with a time of 35:39.15.

Jarrod Lipsey (Kersey, PA/St. Mary's Area) competed in the 3000 meter steeplechase, finishing eighth with a time of 10:15.10.

On the field side, the Lions went a perfect 4-for-4 with ECAC-qualifying pole vault attempts, Patten, Elijah Dangrow (Greenville, PA/Greenville), Kyle Grimm (Beaver, PA/Beaver Area), and Luke Aaron (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) all placed in the top-10. Patten had the best finish, coming in second with a vault of 4.75 meters (15'7"). Dangrow, Grimm, and Aaron all vaulted to a height of 4.30 meters (14'1.25") to place seventh, ninth, and 10th, respectively.

Tony Antonucci (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) had a personal-best day in discus after finishing seventh with a toss of 40.10 meters (131'7"). Obenrader came in fourth after his toss of 46.00 meters (150'11").

Obenrader then competed in the hammer throw, earning fourth place after a throw of 41.96 meters (137'8"). Antonucci came in seventh with a toss of 40.78 meters (133'9").

Behrend will be back in action next Saturday when they compete in the Carnegie Mellon quad meet beginning at 10 a.m.