Thursday, March 5, 2009

MORAVIAN TO SEND 26 STUDENT-ATHLETES TO COMPETE AT 2009 ECAC DIVISION III
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEDFORD, MA --- Moravian College has qualified 26 student-athletes, 14 males and 12 females, to compete at the 2009 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts on Friday, March 6th and Saturday, March 7th.

The Moravian women enter the meet as the defending champion while the Greyhound men were the runner-up a year ago.  The women’s squad is also coming off of its second straight Landmark Conference championship last weekend while the men were second.

On the men’s side, sophomore Eric Woodruff (Brodheadsville, PA/St. Pius X HS) will be participating in two individual events and a relay for the Greyhounds.  Woodruff is scheduled to compete in the 55-meter dash with a qualifying time of 6.56 seconds and the 200-meter dash with a qualifying time of 22.44 seconds.

Woodruff will also run in the 4x200-meter relay along with senior Rob Shaffer (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville HS), sophomore Warner Jones (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough HS) and freshman Kyle D’Angelo (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern HS) after a qualifying time of 1:32.24.  Shaffer will also compete in the 55-meter dash after a qualifying time of 6.55 seconds.

Junior Michael Blenk (Inwood, NY/Lawrence HS) qualified in the e long jump with a qualifying leap of 6.76 meters (22 feet, 2 ¼ inches) and the indoor pentathlon after a qualifying point total of 3,225 points.  Senior Blair Maginnis (Asbury, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS), the 2009 Landmark Conference Male Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, will compete in two events after qualifying in the shot put with a toss of 15.54 meters (51 feet) and in the 35-pound weight throw with a distance of 15.62 meters (51 feet, three inches).

Freshman Timothy Layng (Canton, PA/Canton HS) and senior Alan Woods (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff HS) will both compete in the pole vault after qualifying at heights of 4.50 meters (14 feet, nine inches) for Layng and 4.40 meters (14 feet, 5 ¼ inches) for Woods.

Senior Timothy Murphy (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS), junior Steve Parisi (Kunkletown, PA/Pleasant Valley HS) and sophomores Connor Skutches (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) and Jacob Tazik (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing HS) will run in the 4x800-meter relay after a qualifying time of 8:01.19 while Jones and Skutches will run in the 4,000-meter distance medley relay with senior Jeremiah Reinhart (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley HS) and freshman Steve Ambrosi (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany Hills HS) that had a qualifying time of 10:35.89.

On the women’s side, junior Jessica Posimo (Philadelphia, PA/St. Basil Academy) will be competing in four individual events for the Greyhounds.  Posimo, who was the 2009 Landmark Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Year, qualified in the 200-meter dash in 26.67 seconds, the 55-meter high hurdles in 8.50 seconds, the long jump with a leap of 5.43 meters (17 feet, 9 ¾ inches) and the indoor pentathlon with a score of 3,062 points.

Sophomore Sydni Wisniewski (Orlando, FL/Winter Haven HS), the 2009 Landmark Conference Female Track Athlete of the Year, will be competing in three individual and three relay events.  Wisniewski qualified in the 200-meter dash in 25.99 seconds, the 400-meter dash in 59.48 seconds and the indoor pentathlon with 2,863 points.  Wisniewski will run the 4x200-meter relay with juniors Rachel Beck (Churchville, PA/Council Rock South HS), Symonne Scott (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro HS) and Rachel Riggs (Gettysburg, PA/Gettysburg HS) after the quartet qualified in 1:45.17.

Wisniewski will also run in the 4x400-meter relay with junior Katelyn Chando (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) and freshmen Hailey Neff (Lehighton, PA/Lehighton HS), the 2009 Landmark Conference Female Rookie of the Year, and Brooke DiNitzio (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield HS) that qualified in 4:05.88.  Wisniewski, Neff and DiNitzio will be joined by freshman Kristina Ruggiero (Cedar Grove, NJ/Cedar Grove HS) in the 4x800-meter relay after posting a qualifying time of 10:03.20.

Riggs will participate in the 55-meter high hurdles with a qualifying time of 9.03 seconds, the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.88 seconds, the long jump with a qualifying leap of 5.25 meters (17 feet, 2 ¾ inches) and the triple jump with a qualifying distance of 10.73 meters (32 feet, 2 ½ inches). Beck is also scheduled to run in the 55-meter dash after qualifying in 7.40 seconds while Scott will compete in the 200-meter dash after a qualifying time of 26.70 seconds and in the long jump with a qualifying leap of 5.47 meters (17 feet, 11 ½ inches).

In other field events, junior Anna Heim (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown HS) will compete in the pole vault after clearing a qualifying height of 3.70 meters (12 feet, 1 ½ inches) and senior Christine Kihm (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown HS) will also be in the pole vault after clearing 3.50 meters (11 feet, six inches).  Junior Flora Robertson (Hawley, PA/East Stroudsburg North HS) will participate in the 20-pound weight throw with a qualifying toss of 14.20 meters (46 feet, 10 ¾ inches).