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Pair of School Records Fall in Pittsburgh
April 1, 2006
PITTSBURGH - At the Western Pennsylvania Championships, a pair of school track and field records fell, as Emily Pfeufer (St. Marys/Elk County Catholic) (right) and Elizabeth Earley (Venetia/Peters Township) (left) each broke school records, Pfeufer in the triple jump and Earley in the hammer throw, as each also provisionally qualified to nationals with their marks.
The event brought together 15 different schools in the Western Pennsylvania area, including Division I schools Robert Morris, Pittsburgh, Penn State and Duquesne, and Division II Slippery Rock, Clarion and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
The Gators placed fifth in the scored event, finishing with 57 points. Pittsburgh won the event with 203 points, as Duquesne and Robert Morris placed second and third with scores of 136.50 and 112.50. The Gators were the top Division III team at the event, as Indiana placed fourth with 73.50 points.
Pfeufer’s leap of 37-9.5 in the triple jump, which placed fourth in the event, was over five inches further than the previous school record, set by Glena Gilbert in 1991. Pfeufer also met NCAC qualifying marks in the long jump, where she placed third with a leap of 17-0.00 and in the high jump, where she placed fifth, clearing a height of 5-1.
Earley’s toss of 152-2 in the hammer throw, which placed her second in the competition, broke the school record she set two weeks ago. She also met the NCAC qualifying marks in the shot put, where she placed sixth with a toss of 37-5.25, and in the discus throw, where she placed seventh with a toss of 114-1.
For the meet, ten Gators met the NCAC qualifying standards in a total of 16 events.
Elyse Kebert (Meadville) and Sarah McMahon (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Pingry School) each reached NCAC qualifying standards in a pair of events, Kebert in the 100 hurdles and the triple jump, and McMahon in the shot put and discus.
Kebert sprinted across the finish line in the hurdles to a time of 16.96 in the preliminaries, good for sixth place, while leaping to a distance of 34-8.5 in the triple jump, placing 10th. McMahon placed ninth in the shot put with a toss of 34-9.75, while placing 15th in the discus with a heave of 102-8.
Sarah Sammel (Pittsburgh/Bethel Park) placed second in the pole vault, clearing a height of 10-6.0, 11 inches away from her own school record set a year ago.
Caroline LaRochelle (Meadville) placed fifth in the 800-meter run, crossing the tape in 2:26.23, good enough to earn her a spot at the conference championships, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan on May 4 and 5.
Scarlett Graham (Farmington/Uniontown) and Eva Weyers (Delanson, N.Y./Duanesburg) both qualified in the 1500-meter run, Graham placing seventh in a time of 4:54.16, while Weyers finshed just behind with a 5:01.69.
Liz Straus (Kirtland, Ohio) placed 11th in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing the one-lap event in a time of 1:11.68.
Michelle Corkum (McMurray/Peters Township) ran to a seventh place finish in the 5,000-meters, finishing the 3.1-mile race in a time of 18:49.57.
Amanda Grilli (Washington/Trinity) rounded out the NCAC qualifiers by placing 10th in the long jump, leaping to a distance of 15-11.0.
The next meet for the Blue and Gold is on April 8, when the team travels south to Washington, Pa., to compete in the Washington & Jefferson Invitational.