-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-                                                                                                                                   4/27/08

LANDMARK CONFERENCE                                                                                                         CONTACT: Joel Cookson

                                                                                                                                                                       Phone: 973-805-8836

                                                                                                                                                            E-mail: jcookson@drew.edu

 

MORAVIAN EARNS LANDMARK OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

BETHLEHEM. Pa. – The Moravian College men’s and women’s track and field teams made it a clean sweep on the first season of Landmark track & field competitions as the Greyhounds claimed the inaugural team championships at the 2008 Landmark Outdoor Track & Field Championships which concluded Sunday afternoon in Bethlehem, Pa.

 

Moravian, which also claimed the men’s and women’s titles at the Landmark Indoor Championships, outlasted Susquehanna University in both team standings to claim the tiles. The Greyhound men tallied 277 points over the two-day event, 33.5 ahead of Susquehanna. Juniata College placed third with 151 points, Catholic University was fourth with 52, United States Merchant Marine Academy fifth with 47.5 and Goucher was sixth with 27 points. In the women’s competition Moravian finished with 307.5 points, more than 100 points clear of Susquehanna which earned 204. Catholic place third with 92 points, four ahead of Juniata which finished fourth.  Goucher was fifth with 58.5 and USMMA rounded out the scoring with 20 points.

 

Moravian also earned several individual awards for the event. Sydni Wisniewski was picked as the Female Track Outstanding Performer, while Ozzie Brown matched that honor on the men’s side. Blair Maginnis was the Male Co-Field Outstanding performer as well for Moravian, and Head Coach Walt Wandall and his staff were recognized as the Coaching Staff of the Year in men’s and women’s competition.

 

Susquehanna had three competitors claim individual awards as well on Sunday. Ashley Moormann was the Femal Field Outstanding Performer, while Alycia Woodruff was named the Female Rookie of the Year. Bobby Eppleman of Susquehanna matched that honor by being named Rookie of the Year for the men’s competition. Matthew Booth of Juniata was the other honoree on the day as he was the Male co-Field Performer of the Year.

 

Brown made his impact on the final day as he earned wins in three different events. He crossed the line first in the 100 meter, the 200 meter and the 110-meter high hurdles, while also helping Moravian win the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. His times in each event were NCAA provisional qualifying times.

 

His teammates helped him put away the team title as the Greyhounds earned another five individual wins on the day. Nate Tussey had two victories, winning the 400-meter  in a time of 49.12, and then adding a win in the 400-meter hurdles in an NCAA provisional time of 53.28. Connor Skutches was a winner for the Greyhounds in the 800-meter with a time of 1:56.33. The other two wins came in the hammer throw with Troy Bertholf recording a winning time of 41.94 meters, and in the decathlon where Michael Blenk recorded 5,830 points.

 

Susquehanna kept pace with Moravian with several wins of its own. Paul Thistle joined the Moravian duo of Brown and Tussey as a multi-event winner. After winning the 1,500 on Saturday, Thistle ran 9:26.12 to place first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and then was first in the 5,000 meters in a time of 15:37.96.  The Crusaders also got a win in the javelin with Ian Horton winning the event with a throw of 52.55 meters.

 

Rounding out the wins was Booth who gave Juniata a victory with a leap of 13.51 meters in the triple jump after he placed second in the long jump on Saturday.

 

The Greyhounds picked up numerous wins in the women’s competition to pull away for the victory. They were led by Wisniewski who ran to victory in three events. She was first in the 100-meters with a time of 12.60, the 200-meters in 25.67 and then the 400-meters with a mark of 58.40. She also helped Moravian win both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays.

 

Her teammate Jessica Posimo was also a multi-event winner on day two. She topped the field in the triple jump with a mark of 10.72 meters and then won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.08. Her time in the trials of 14.77 was an NCAA provisional mark. Rounding out the wins for Moravian was Anna Heim earning her second victory of the weekend by running 1:06.28 to narrowly claim the 400-meter hurdles.

 

Susquehanna had four competitors claim victories on day two of the competition. Moormann claimed her second victory of the two-day event with a toss of 35.77 meters to win the hammer throw. Woodruff also nabbed her second win of the weekend by running 18:23.20 to cross the line first in the 5,000-meter. Robin O’Hara was the winner in the heptathlon with 3,673 points. Also winning was Sarah Spearing with a victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by running a time of 12:39.46.

 

Remy Ball of Catholic was the other winner on day two as she posted a time of 2:21.74 to win the 800-meters.

 

The end of the two-day event marked the conclusion of the Landmark track & field season. Many of these competitors and teams will now move on to compete at the ECAC Championships May 15-16 at Springfield College as well as the NCAA Division III Championships which May 22-24 at Wisconsin-Osh Kosh.

 

-30-

For more information visit www.landmarkconference.org