As we approach the end of the spring semester, our men’s and women’s track and field team look to keep pushing to the end as PSAC’s are right around the corner. On April 20, both Golden Rams Track and Field teams participated in the Shippensburg Second Annual Inside Track and Field invitational. So far the men and women’s Track and Field teams have had an up and down season but look to finish strong as the weather gets nicer.
Starting off with the men’s team, Golden Ram Joey DeCecco won the triple jump and finished fourth in the high jump while DeShaun Pickett posted a pair of runner-up efforts inside Seth Grove Stadium Wednesday afternoon. DeCecco leaped 44-feet, 3 1/4 inches to take the triple jump. He cleared 6’ 9” in the high jump to place fourth. Pickett, meanwhile, clocked a time of 10.90 seconds in the 100meter dash to finish second and 21.89 seconds in the 200 meter. Bryan Reice placed fifth in the 100m 11.24 seconds with teammate Justus Norman right on his heels at 11.25 seconds while Austin Shank with a time of 22.89 seconds was fifth in the 200 meter and Reice placed sixth with a time of 22.93 seconds.
Ghassan Dix was runner-up in the 400 meter with a time of 50.25 seconds while Colin McClusick was second in the 800 meter with 1:58.14. Josh Coakley placed second in the 1500m eterin 4:02.26. Ryan Heimbach finished fourth in the 110 meter hurdles (15.67) and third in the 400 meter hurdles (1:00.62). Teammate Shawn Young was fourth in 1:03.03. Rounding out the field events,
Bryce Sadler also placed seventh in the shot put, putting it 44’4” while Greg Raudenbush was seventh in the hammer, tossing it 164.11m. Matt Hook threw the javelin 157.8m to finish fifth while Chris Mallee was seventh with a throw of 146.4m. We look forward to the next upcoming weeks to see what the Golden Rams will bring to the PSAC championships soon.
Running over to the women’s track and field team on a great note, Golden Ram Holly Szita won the high jump, clearing 5’ 6” to lead the West Chester contingent at the second annual SU Track & Field Invitational Wednesday afternoon. Emily Magnant recorded a pair of runner-up performances in both the 100meter and the 200meter dashes. She posted a time of 12.74 seconds in the 100 and 25.99 seconds in the 200meter.
Alyson Ford placed sixth and seventh respectively, in both of those races as well, showing that she will not quit. Ford put up a time of 13.09seconds in the 100 and 27.08seconds in the 200meters. Brigid Peyton was right behind her in the 200 in eighth place with a time of 27.64seconds DeJanee Fells placed fourth in the 400m in 59.91 seconds while teammate Caitlin McGinley was sixth with 1:02.71. Allison Lewis placed sixth in the 800meter (2:26.12) while Amanda Kodis was sixth in the 1500meter run (5:07.61). Christine Johnson placed fourth in the hammer throw with a toss of 146.4m
WCU returns to Shippensburg for the Paul Kaiser Invitational a week from Saturday and will look to compete and stay on track (no pun intended) for the PSAC championships which will be held in the beginning of May. We wish the Golden Rams the best of luck and hope that everyone will be able to support your Rams as the semester comes to an end.
Marcelus Council-Jones is a fourth-year student. He can be reached at MC785844@wcupa.edu.