2006 Outdoor Season Review

The Moravian College women's track & field team, under the direction of head coach Doug Pollard, saw its string of 13 straight MAC Outdoor Championships come to a close as Moravian tied for fourth with Juniata College at 89 points in the 2006 MAC Championships. Messiah College captured the title with 179.5 points.

The Greyhounds had three student-athletes compete on the first day of the three-day 2006 Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Championships hosted by Widener University. Freshman Kelly Williams (Tafton, PA/Wallenpaupack HS) took 12th in the 10,000-meter run in a time of 42:47.91 while sophomore Katie Pulizzano (Allentown, PA/William Allen HS) placed 16th at 44:20.47. In the heptathlon, sophomore Theresa Zataveski (Quakertown, PA/Gwynedd Mercy Academy HS) was in sixth place with a point total of 1,817 after the first four events. She was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 17.05 seconds to earn 591 points, and Zataveski took fifth in the 200-meter dash in 28.88 seconds for 563 points. Zataveski placed eighth in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.26 meters (four feet, 1 1/2 inches) to earn 369 points, and she was eighth in the shot put with a toss of 6.35 meters (20 feet, 10 inches) worth 294 points.

Moravian was in sixth place after the second day of the 2006 MAC Outdoor Championships with a team total of 23 points. Messiah College is in first place with 69.5 points while the host Pioneers are second with 58.5 points. The Greyhounds top individual finish on the second day of competition was by junior Kelly Applegate (Easton, PA/Wilson HS), who placed second in the shot put with a toss of 12.82 meters (42 feet, 3/4 inch). Applegate was also fifth in the discus throw with a distance of 33.04 meters (108 feet, five inches). Junior Tammy Balliet (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) earned a seventh place in the shot put with a toss of 10.56 meters (34 feet, 7 3/4 inches). Senior Lauren Bahnatka (West Chester, PA/Henderson HS) placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 12:23.11 while senior Alexis Vergalla (Glen Gardner, NJ/Voorhees HS) was seventh in 12:47.74 and junior Jennifer Connolly was 11th in 14:03.45. Zataveski took seventh in the heptathlon with a two-day point total of 2,929 including 1,112 points in the final three events competed on the second day.

In preliminary events, junior Erin Recker (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua HS) tied her own school record in the 100-meter dash with an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 12.33 to finish first and move into the final. Recker was also first in the 200-meter dash in 25.55 seconds, and she joined juniors Suzanne Tamlyn (Wappingers Falls, NY/Wallkill HS), Kathleen McCarron (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS) and Amy Reehil (Roselle, NJ/Roselle Catholic HS) to place first in the preliminaries of the 4x100-meter relay in 48.91 seconds. Tamlyn was fourth in the 100-meter dash in 12.93 seconds and sixth in the 200-meter dash at 26.56 seconds to move onto the finals of both events while Reehil moved on in the 100-meter dash at a time of 13.04 seconds and the 400-meter hurdles with a third place finish in 1:06.99.

Senior Rebecca Moore (Easton, PA/Easton HS) placed fifth in the 100-meter dash in 13.01 seconds and fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:09.35 to advance in each race while freshman Rachel Elneus (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS) was eighth in the 400-meter das in 1:04.51 to move to the championship. Zataveski reached the finals of the 100-meter hurdles with a seventh place time of 16.89 seconds. McCarron ran a time of 13.31 seconds in the 100-meter dash preliminaries, but placed 11th and did not move on. Freshman Katarina Birle (Westwood, MA/Westwood HS) was 18th in both the 100-meter dash in 14.00 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 29.10 seconds.

Moravian had one individual champion on the final day of the three-day meet with Recker capturing the 100-meter dash in a school record and NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 12.26 seconds. Recker also placed second in the 200-meter dash in a school record and NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 25.17 seconds, and she joined McCarron, Tamlyn and Reehil to place second in the 4x100-meter relay in an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 48.67 seconds.

Tamlyn placed fifth in the 100-meter dash in 12.91 seconds, and she was sixth in the 200-meter dash in 26.41 seconds. Reehil was sixth in the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.94 seconds, and Reehil finished 2nd in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:06.34. Moore placed seventh in the 100-meter dash in 13.11 seconds, and she was fifth in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:08.10. Elneus placed eighth in the 400-meter dash in 1:03.62 while Zataveski took sixth in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.83 seconds.

In field events on the final day of the meet, Applegate placed third in the javelin throw with a distance if 37.14 meters (121 feet, ten inches) while Balliet finished third in the hammer throw with a toss of 38.16 meters (125 feet, two inches). McCarron was 11th in the long jump with a leap of 4.49 meters (14 feet, 8 3/4 inches) while Zataveski placed 12th at 4.44 meters (14 feet, seven inches).

Vergalla placed 14th in the 1,500-meter run for the Greyhounds in a time of 5:22.46 while freshman Naomie Kachel (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin HS) was 20th in the event in 5:29.87. Williams was 15th in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 20:24.68 while Bahnatka took 21st place in 21:03.41.

Vergalla, Moore, Recker, Tamlyn, Balliet, Reehil, Connolly, Zataveski and Bahnatka were all named to the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation Spring Academic Honor Roll.