The Penn State Behrend track and field teams were on display at the Mount Union College Raider Open on Saturday, February 20.  Both teams had solid performances and several finished at the top in their events. 

This was the last indoor meet for the Behrend Lions track and field teams and Head Coach Greg Cooper was pleased with the way the athletes performed.  "This was a great way to cap off the indoor season," coach Cooper stated.  "We not only had meet records fall, but school records as well."

The highlight of the meet for the women might have been the 4X400 meter relay in which Victoria Harwood (Fair Haven/Rumson-Fair Haven), Dana Turley (Sarver/Freeport), Jenna Fatica (Erie/Villa Maria) and Mandy Wehrle (Rossiter/Punxsutawney) took first with a time 4:10.47, defeating second place Carnegie Mellon University by more than four seconds.  Harwood would continue her success in the pole vault with a final mark of 2.90 meters which saw her place towards the top of the standings.  The senior Turley capped off her final indoor meet in successful fashion as she recorded a time of 9.47 in the 55 meter hurdle event which is a top ten time in Behrend history.  Wherle would record a personal best time of 1:02.54 in the 400 meter dash which would place her in the second position for the event.  Fatica would also put in a great performance in the 800 meter run as she recorded an ECAC qualifying time of 2:21.42 and finish second in the event.

For the men, Justin DiPenti (Warren/Warren) was in unfamiliar grounds as he was set to run the 5000 meter run event.  DiPenti performed as if he had run this event all year long and went on the record a time of 16:44.10 which placed him third overall.  DiPenti was not finished as he set a Behrend record in the one mile run event with a time of 4:30.46.  Jordan Telin (North Huntingdon/Norwin) was consistent all meet long and had second place finishes in various events.  In the 400 meter dash, Telin ran a time of 51.46 and in the 4X200 relay he teamed up to run a time of 1:36.04.  Telin capped off his day with yet another second place finish in the 4X400 meter relay recording a time of 3:32.35.  Junior John Bowman (Clearfield/Clearfield Area) would show off his strength in the weight throw event as he recorded a distance of 13.93 meters which set a new Behrend record.

Coach Cooper would go on to say, "Overall the meet was a success and we are looking forward to continuing our season outdoors.  There are still areas to improve, but the coaches were pleased with the way we ended the indoor season."

Up next for the Behrend Lions track and field teams will be the Salisbury Invitational which is set to be held on Saturday, March 6.  The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held on March 12 and 13.