Records Fall and Qualifiers Pile Up for Gator Runners

Apr 15, 2005

Bucknell Results

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The distance runners on the Allegheny College track and field teams had a wildly successful Friday night, as a school-record total of seven runners qualified for NCAA Championships in the same night and the same school event record fell twice but on two different sides of the continent.

The highlight of the night was senior Kevin Pool (New Windsor, Md./ Westminster), who shattered the school record and automatically qualified for nationals in the 10,000-meter run while competing at the Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San Antonio Community College in Walnut, California. His time of 30 minutes, 23.40 seconds took more than a minute off the older school record that was set by Gator assistant coach Dan Princic (31:27.88) in 2003 but it wasn’t Princic’s record to break when Pool (left) finally ran at approximately 10 p.m. West Coast Time (1 a.m. EST).

That’s because Gator senior Jeff Conroy (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Baldwin) actually surpassed Princic’s mark three hours earlier when he and the rest of Allegheny’s distance runners competed at the first day of Bucknell University’s Bison Outdoor Classic. Conroy finished fourth overall in the 10K with a time of 30:47.60, which not only gave him the school record for about three hours, but also provisionally qualified Conroy for the NCAA meet.

Two other Allegheny men’s runners put up great times at the Bucknell meet, including junior Chris Carrier (Lyndhurst, Ohio/ Charles F. Brush), who provisionally qualified in the 5,000 with a 20th place (out of 103 runners) time of 14:46.13, and freshman Chris Corkins (Horesheads, N.Y.), who qualified in the 10,000 for the 2005 USATF Junior National Championships, which will be held in June, after he finished with a time of 32:13.69.

The women weren’t left out on this night either, as three seniors potentially claimed a spot at the NCAA meet, which will be May 26-28 at Wartburg (Iowa) College. Senior Leah Shouey (Franklin, Pa.), finished fourth overall and was the top Division III runner in the 5,000 with a provisionally qualifying time of 17:14.77. Fellow senior Leigh Ciofani (McKees Rocks, Pa./ Montour) crossed in 13th place with another provisional qualifying time of 17:38.98.

Rounding out the qualifying parade was senior Lindsey Shouey (Franklin, Pa.) (right), who placed fourth in the 10,000 with a time of 37:03.66, also a provisional qualifying mark.

The rest of the Gator track teams are in competition today at the Slippery Rock University Invitational.

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