Gators Take Second at NCAC's

May 4, 2007

NCAC Championships Final Results
Day 2 Photo Gallery

DELAWARE, Ohio – The Allegheny College Gator women’s track & field team was unable to avenge their indoor North Coast Athletic Conference title loss, falling to the host Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops. Allegheny junior Liz Earley (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) won the hammer throw and scored in the javelin throw en route to being named the NCAC Field Event Performer of the Year.

Allegheny ended the meet with 228 points, nine behind the Battling Bishops, with Oberlin (101), Wooster (75.5) and Earlham (75) rounding out the top five.

The day started well enough for the Gators, as the team scored four athletes in the javelin throw, led by Katie Pankowski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) and Emily Pfeufer (St. Mary’s, Pa./Elk County Catholic), who placed first and second in the event with throws of 124-6 and 119-3, each. Jace Pennisi (Milltown, N.J./East Brunswick) and Liz Earley (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) placed sixth and seventh with tosses of 98-11 and 96-9, respectively.

While Pfeufer was competing in the javelin, she was also entered in the triple jump, where she placed third overall with a leap of 36-0.25. Teammate Hannah Smith (Rice Lake, Wisc./Rice Lake) took seventh in the triple jump, leaping to a distance of 32-5.

Down to one event at a time, Pfeufer came back an hour later to lead her and two others, Liz Straus (Kirtland, Ohio/Kirtland) and Carley Latus (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), to scoring finishes in the event. Pfeufer and Straus each cleared 5-3, a height that ties a career high for the former and sets a new one for the latter. Latus placed eighth among the field, clearing 4-10.25.

A strong finish of Gators in the 3,000-meter steeple chase helped the team to a 6-7-8 finish in the event, with Kim Tranel (East Dubuque, Ill./Wahlert (Iowa)) pacing the trio in a time of 12:38.11 as Andrea Patterson (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) and Lynn Simonton (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) ran to times of 12:41.19 and 12:52.15, respectively.

The Gator quartet of Gail Raspanti (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), Pfeufer, Jessica Gratton (Bridgeville, Pa./Chartiers Valley) and Sarah Holick (Hillsborough, N.J./Mt. St. Mary Academy) each earned all-league honors after helping their 4x100-meter relay team to a third place finish in a time of 51.70.

Latus then led three Gators to scoring finishes in the 1,500-meter run, placing fourth in a time of 4:51.83, while Scarlett Graham (Farmington, Pa./Uniontown) and Lindsay Svetlak (Lowellville, Ohio/Lowellville) took seventh and eighth in times of 4:53.50 and 4:58.72, respectively.

Smith, the scorer in the triple jump, led four scorers for the Gators in the 100-meter hurdles, with the freshman placing second overall in a time of 16.05. Straus and Pfeufer finished neck-in-neck, with the former edging out the latter 16.35-to-16.42. Gratton placed seventh to round out the quartet in a time of 16.67.

Rebecca Aiken (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) earned all-league honors by placing third in the 400-meter dash, running a personal-best time of 1:00.72.

The Gators scored three individuals in the 100-meter dash, placing the three in fifth, sixth and seventh. Leading the trio was Holick, who placed fifth in a time of 13.52 while Raspanti (13.56) and Pfeufer (13.65) finished the group for the Blue and Gold.

Following the sprint event, Latus ended her individual day with a third-place finish in the 800-meter run, in a time of 2:19.61, as the sophomore was the only person in the final’s field not from Ohio Wesleyan or Oberlin.

Straus completed her day in individual events by taking second in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing in a time of 1:05.73, nearly a second better than her previous best. Senior Heather Knupp (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) took fourth overall in a time of 1:07.51.

A fifth and sixth place finish in the 200-meter run by Aiken (27.20) and Holick (27.35) helped to put the Gators nearly into striking distance for a late title push.

Michelle Corkum (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township), the runner-up in the 10,000-meter run the day before, placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run, finishing the 3.1 miles in a time of 18:38.21, while teammates Mia Symoniak (Snyder, N.Y./Amherst Central) and Graham placed sixth and seventh with times of 18:52.89 and 18:53.28, respectively.

The Gators ended the meet with their second consecutive relay all-conference team, with the quartet of Aiken, Holick, Latus and Straus placing third in a time of 4:07.23.

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