ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's and women's track and field teams are set to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships this weekend at Ocean Breeze Park in Staten Island, NY.
On the men's team, 11 runners have qualified to run at the championships. The qualifiers and their respective events are listed below.
Dylan Buffington (Brookville, PA/Brookville) – 800m
Cody Cornell (Conneaut Lake, PA/Conneaut Lake) – 500m
Kevin Gardner (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) – High Jump
Matt McWilliams (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) – Mile Run
Josh Natalie (Erie, PA / Collegiate Academy - Strong Vincent) – Mile Run
Mitchell Obenrader (Fryburg, PA / North Clarion) – Shot Put
Luke Patten (West Middlesex, PA/West Middlesex) – Pole Vault
4x400m Relay - Devin Ross (Shenango, PA/Shenango), Greg Graf (South Park, PA/South Park), Shane MacMahon (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin), and Matt Grafton (Worthington, PA/ Kittanning).
4x800m Relay - Buffington, Cornell, McWilliams and Natalie.
DMR - Buffington (1200m), Grafton (400m), Natalie (800m) and McWilliams (1600m).
The women and their respective events are listed as follows:
Paige Allen (Butler, PA/Butler) – 60m and 200m
4x200m Relay - Haley Yenchik (Cecil, PA/Canon McMillan), Allen, Ashlyn Carlsson (Butler, PA/Knoch), and Rachel Pell (Elizabeth, PA/Elizabeth Forward).
4x400m Relay - Carlsson, Pell, Allen, and Courtney Sargent (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy)
The Lions are looking to make improvements in their times and qualify for NCAAs. To qualify, men must be in the Top 15 and women must have a Top 17 time, or distance, in the country. Currently, Obenrader and Allen are in the best spot to earn a bid to NCAAs.
Obenrader's best shot put of 53' 9.25" this season ranks him with the ninth-best throw in Division III. Allen is looking to secure spots in both the 60m and 200m. Her season-best 7.79 in the 60m puts her in 20th nationally and her 25.66 in the 200m ranks her as the 17th fastest time in DIII.
