The College's outdoor track and field teams had a number of top performers at the 2003 Lions' Invitational on Saturday, a non-team scored event.
In the shot put, freshman Bobbi Jo Leighty took second place with a mark of 11.74 meters. He also took 16th place in the hammer throw with a mark of 33.67 meters.
Freshman Danica Miller finished in third place in the javelin throw, with her make of 33.22 meters, while sophomore Tara Gangi took 12th place with her throw of 26.35 meters.
In the pole vault, freshman Lauren Detrick posted a mark of 2.60 meters, which finished in seventh place. She also took sixth in the high jump at 1.46 meters.
In the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Erika Huggler posted a fourth place finish in 15.99 seconds, while senior Kam Lam took seventh in 16.37 seconds.
"This shows improvement and potential," Huggler said. "I'm excited for next season."
Freshmen Tiffany Clark and Kate Powell were the first and second place finishers, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. Clark finished 57.24 and Powell took second in 59.26.
In the distance races, junior Lindsay Scarborough finished fifth in the 1500-meter run in 4:47, freshmen duo Kara Horner and Brianna Bayersdorfer running in 12th and thirteen places. Sophomore Dana Palumbo took sixth place in the 5K.
Men's track and field
On the men's side, junior Kevin Semanick won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.58, while freshman Mike Stomiany took third in the race in 56.63.
Senior Mike Polulak took third in the javelin throw with a mark of 55.10 meters, while Jeff Schwerdtman took second place in the discus throw with a mark of 46.18 meters.
In the high jump, freshman Ben Samara and sophomore Ed Marion tied for second with a jump of 1.85 meters.
Freshman Jeff Shwerdtman took second place in the discus.
"I threw a couple of feet under my personal best, so I was content with that," Shwerdtman said. "There's a couple more weeks in the season so I'm looking to peak then."
The men's distance team continued the success. Senior Mike Armstrong doubled back from running Penn Relays to take third place in the 1500-meter run. Also in the 1500, junior Joe Lacovara-Switzer ran 4:04 for seventh place.
In the 5K, junior Brian Brach and senior Chris Ludwig finished within one second of each other to take seventh and eighth place.
For many College competitors, the Lions Invite provides the last chance for high quality competition.
"It was a great meet overall," Ludwig said. "(Athletes) who didn't run at Penn, local guys from Princeton and other schools in Jersey ran in our meet - it's kind of an alternate meet."
"The Invitational is always a good time," said head coach Steve Dolan. "It's nice to host a big event like this."
Penn Relays
The College also competed in the 2003 Penn Relays on Thursday, turning in a few strong performances.
In the women's 4 x 400 relay, the College's foursome won their heat with an National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) provisional qualifying time of 3:15.67, but did not advance to the finals. Running the relay were freshmen Kate Powell, Brittny Boyd and Tiffany Clark, along with senior Irene Leidenfrost.
"We didn't run our best in the 4 x 100," Clark said. "However, in the 4 x 400, we qualified for high standards in the nationals."
In the women's 4 x 100 relay, ran by Leidenfrost, Boyd, sophomore Johane Clermont and Clark the Lions finished with a time of 48.92.
"The 4 x100 posed the greatest challenge for me," Clark said. "We ran against a mixture of Division I and Division III schools."
In the men's distance medley relay, sophomore Matt Molski, sophomore Maurice Carter, senior Mike Armstrong and senior Aaron Boucher finished in ninth place with a school record of 10:05.99.
During distance night on Thursday, senior Nick Ricco and junior Adrian Cline competed in the 5K, finishing 14:49 and 14:53 respectively.
Senior Chris Curto ran the steeplechase in a provisionally qualifying time of 9:22.
Junior Beth Vesey represented the women's distance team with a 17:49 time in the 5K.
Freshman Jeff Shwerdtman boasted an 11th place finish in the shot put and 19th place in the discus.
"I felt really good at Penn Relays," Shwedtman said. "It felt great to compete and hopefully next year I'll do better."
"The Penn Relays are a chance for everyone to compete with teams that they may haven't seen," Dolan said. "It's fun because there's going to be a real competitive field for some of our runners, so this is a time when their best performances can come out."
Upcoming Meet
The Lions are back in action next Saturday, May 3 at Richard Stockton College for the NJAC Championships.
- Additional reporting by John Kell and Heather Altz.
