Going for the Gold

SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The Susquehanna University men's and women's track and field teams will go for the gold on Friday and Saturday as the Crusaders will participate in the Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Starry Field on the campus of Messiah College. The men's team will look for its 11th championship since 1982 while the women will be in pursuit of their first-ever MAC crown. Last year, the men finished second to Widener while the women placed sixth as Moravian won its eighth straight team crown. While no individual champions return for the Crusaders this year, there are several contenders for gold medals on both the men's and women's side. MEN’S PREVIEW Sophomore Matt Deamer (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley H.S.) is the overwhelming favorite to capture the MAC title in the javelin. He owns the longest throw in NCAA Division III this season with a distance of 212 feet, 2 inches at the Crusaders' home meet with Gettysburg, Moravian and Juniata on March 24, and has surpassed the 200-foot plateau four times this season. Deamer's qualifying throw of 212-1 is over 22 feet further than the second-best throw in the MAC this season. His strongest competition may come from junior Steve Turzanski (Bloomsburg, PA./Central Columbia H.S.), whose best throw this year was 176 feet, 3 inches against Messiah and Elizabethtown on April 10. Deamer qualified for the NCAA Championships last spring after a then-school record throw of 211-7 at the Messiah Invitational, and finished 11th at the NCAA meet after placing second at the MAC Championships. Turzanski ranked 28th in Division III in the javelin on the strength of a career-best throw of 191-5 at the Messiah Invitational and finished fourth at MAC Championships with a throw of 191-4. In the shot put, junior Matt Shaffer (Brookville, Pa./Brookville H.S.) owns the second-best throw in the MAC this season with a toss of 46 feet, 6 1/2 inches at the Messiah Invitational on April 21. Shaffer will also compete in the hammer throw with freshman Josh Zeyn (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg H.S.), who recorded his best distance of the year at Messiah with a throw of 106-10. Zeyn will also see action in the discus along with sophomore Mike Sobotor (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick H.S.). Zeyn has the eighth-best throw in the MAC this season of 125 feet, 5 1/2 inches at the Susquehanna Invitational while Sobotor is ranked tenth with a best throw of 121-3. The Crusaders should be strong in the jumps and vaults, led by senior Ryan Hollis (Mifflin, Pa./Juniata H.S.). He will compete in the triple jump, where his jump of 44 feet, 9 3/4 inches at the Susquehanna Invitational won the event and gave him the third-best distance in the MAC this season. Senior John Green (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin H.S.) will compete in both the triple jump and long jump at the MAC Championships. His best triple jump of the season is 43 feet, 1 3/4 inches while his top long jump is 20-10 1/4. Sophomore Tim Pelc (Bethlehem, Pa./Salisbury H.S.) will also see action in both the long and triple jumps this weekend. He is ranked fourth in the MAC in the long jump with a team-best jump of 21 feet, 9 3/4 inches against Widener on April 7. Sophomore Matt Lowe (Liverpool, Pa./Newport H.S.) will be in action in the long jump after turning in a season-best jump of 20-11 3/4 at the Susquehanna Invitational. The Crusaders' lone entry in the pole vault is sophomore Scott Kenny (Westfield, N.J./Westfield H.S.), who is tied for fourth in the MAC with a best vault of 12 feet, 6 inches. In track events, the Crusaders will look to junior Beau Heeps (Allentown, PA./Parkland H.S.) to medal in the sprints. He posted the MAC's seventh-best time in the 100 meters with a time of 11.08 seconds and the third-best time in the 200 meters with a time of 22.51 seconds, both at last weekend's Dickinson Invitational. Senior Matt Shingara (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia H.S.) is entered in both the 200 and 400 meters and is ranked among the MAC's top ten in both events. The Crusaders have four entries in the 400 meters, with junior Jason Ward (Avondale, Pa./Avon Grove H.S.) being the top contender to medal. He ran a season-best time of 50.48 seconds against Widener on April 7, good enough for sixth in the MAC this season. Freshman Clint Swartz (Milton, Pa./Warrior Run H.S.) will also run in the 400 meters, but it is the 800 meters in which he will have his best chance to medal. Swartz's best time this season is 2:00.00 against Widener — which has three runners that have run under two minutes this season. Freshman John Venturella (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park H.S.) will also contend with the leaders in the 800 meters after ranking 11th in the MAC with a best time of 2:01.49. In the distance events, the Crusaders should be solid contenders to score in both the 1,500 and 5,000 meters. Senior Micha Van Waesberghe (Axel, The Netherlands/Reynaert) has been the Crusaders' top runner in the 1,500 meters, including a time of 4:10.03 against Messiah and Elizabethtown on April 10 that ranks 11th in the MAC this season. Freshman Ryan McGuire (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon H.S.) will see action in both the 800 and 1,500 meters, as will junior Jake Trevino (Danville, Pa./Danville H.S.). The 5,000 meters will be a battle between freshman Ryan Gleason (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop H.S.) and junior Mike Lehtonen (Laurens, N.Y./Morris Central H.S.). Both finished in the top five at the MAC Indoor Championships and are ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the 5,000 meters in the MAC this season. Lehtonen will also compete in the 10,000 meters, where he owns the second-best time in the MAC after finishing the Susquehanna Invitational in 31:55.88, while Gleason will be a top contender in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Susquehanna should run strong in the hurdles as well, with three different runners ranking in the top five between the 110- and 400-meter hurdles. Junior Trever Fike (Millerstown, Pa./Greenwood H.S.) will look to improve on last year's seventh-place finish in the 110 high hurdles, and after turning in a season-best time of 15.09 seconds at Dickinson last weekend, he owns the second-best time in the MAC this season. Freshman Geoff Dieck (Riverside, Pa./Danville H.S.) will be counted on to run strong in both hurdles events. He owns a season-best time of 15.60 in the high hurdles to rank fifth in the MAC while his time of 56.24 at the Susquehanna Invitational ranks him third among all MAC competitors. Sophomore Dan Kiss (Windber, Pa./Windber Area H.S.) is also entered in the high hurdles, where he ran 16.38 seconds during the regular season to stand in eighth place in the conference. Senior Nick Hoffman (Boiling Springs, Pa./Boiling Springs H.S.) is also a strong contender to medal for a second straight year in the 400 intermediate hurdles. He owned the team's best time in the event for most of the season at 56.43 seconds, which is good enough for fourth in the MAC during the season. Sophomore Aaron Fairbanks (Winsted, Conn./Northwestern Regional #7) will get an early start on competition as he will be participating in the decathlon, which begins on Thursday and concludes on Friday. Fairbanks, who usually competes in hurdles, has been training for the grueling competition during the last several meets and has turned in respectable results in the field events. WOMEN’S PREVIEW In her first season with the track team, sophomore Megan Patrono (West Milford, N.J./West Milford Twp. H.S.) has emerged as a leading candidate to win the 100 meters at the MAC Championships. Patrono has the best time in the event in the MAC this season, finishing in 12.79 seconds at the Dickinson Invitational last weekend. Patrono will also run in the 200 meters, where she is ranked fifth with a best time of 27.16 seconds in a dual meet against Widener on April 7. Susquehanna brings a strong contingent into the hurdles, which could result in the first Crusader gold medal in the hurdles since Jocelyn Megargell won the 100 high hurdles in 1997. Senior Emily Dugan (Athens, Pa./Athens H.S.) posted the fastest time in the 400 intermediate hurdles in the MAC this season at the Dickinson Invitational by finishing in 1:06.13, while sophomore Alison Ream (Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata H.S.) owns the second-best time of 1:07.21. Last season, Dugan finished third in the 400-meter hurdles at the MAC Championships. Ream is ranked fifth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.45 seconds while Dugan is eighth in the conference with a time of 16.66 seconds, but freshman Liz Harker (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata H.S.) was the top competitor in the event for the Crusaders this season, posting a time of 16.11 seconds at a home quad meet on March 24. Over in the 200 meters, Patrono will be joined by junior Charlotte Gould (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury H.S.) and freshman Jordan Bolduc (Elkton, Md./Padua Academy). Both Gould and Bolduc will also compete in the 400 meters and are ranked in the top 12 in both events in the MAC. Moravian has a stranglehold on the 800 meters, with the Lady Greyhounds accounting for the top four times in the event this season. The fifth-best time in the MAC was run by freshman Joleen Rudy (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern H.S.) at Bucknell on April 14 when she turned in a time of 2:26.10. Sophomore Angela Luino (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills H.S.) is the Crusaders' lone entry in the 1,500 meters after running a 5:09.21 at the Dickinson Invitational. The long distance events will be a chance for junior Kim Owen (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin H.S.) to break her own school records. Owen holds the Susquehanna record in both the 3,000 meters (19:26.75 at the Messiah Invitational) and the 5,000 meters (40:02.78 at the Susquehanna Invitational) and is ranked fourth in the MAC in both events. Owen will be joined in the 5,000 by sophomore Erin Colwell (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley H.S.) and junior Delina Cefaratti (Topton, Pa./Brandywine Heights H.S.). At last year's MAC championships, Owen placed 11th in the 5,000 meters, Colwell took fourth in the 10,000 meters and Cefaratti placed 14th in the 5,000 meters. In field events, the Crusaders suffered a blow when four-time MAC outdoor jumping champion Karyn Kern (Brodheadsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley H.S.) suffered a career-ending left knee injury at the Susquehanna Invitational, just 16 months after injuring her right knee during basketball season and being forced to sit out last spring's track season. In her place, freshman Ellen Mull (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy H.S.) has emerged as a solid contender in both the long and triple jump, ranking seventh in the MAC in the triple jump with a season-best distance of 33 feet, 6 1/2 inches and tied for fifth in the long jump with a best leap of 15-8 3/4. Patrono will also be a strong candidate to medal in the long jump, having posted a distance of 16 feet, 2 inches on two occasions this season. Freshman Shannon Barnett (Latrobe, Pa/Greater Latrobe H.S.) will also contend in the triple jump, but her top event is the high jump. Barnett has cleared 5-0 three times this season, which ties her for the top height in the MAC with four others. Freshman Jen Hawbaker (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg H.S.) will look to carry the momentum of her victory in the discus at the Dickinson Invitational (where she threw a season best 106-11) into the MAC Championships. Hawbaker will also compete in the shot put, and is ranked fourth in the MAC with a distance of 34 feet, 9 1/4 inches that was recorded at the season-opening Washington & Lee Invitational. Freshman Chrissy Schoonover (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock H.S.) will also be in action in the shot put, while sophomore Katrina Rung (Hershey, Pa./Hershey H.S.) will compete in the pole vault. Competing in the heptathlon will be freshman Bri Zimmerman (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro H.S.), who has specialized in the high jump during the regular season.