This weekend Wheeling Jesuit University hosted the 2010 WVIAC Track and Field Championships. WJU finished third behind Seton Hill University (m-136 pts. w-146 pts.) and West Virginia Wesleyan College, the 2010 WVIAC Champions, (m-238 pts., w-216 pts.) for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Several WJU athletes had outstanding performances as the men (124 pts.) and women (131 pts.) combined to set four new WVIAC Meet Records. Despite finishing third, the women received 19 personal best performances, five conference champions and two WVIAC Meet Records in the 21 events scored. The 2009 WVIAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, Sarah Campanelli, regained the title in 2010. Campanelli placed first in two events, earning two conference championships. In the 800 meter run, she completed the track in 2:18.81 and collected 10 points for her efforts. She also competed in the 1500 meter run, where she finished first for 10 more points, setting a new WVIAC Meet Record with a time of 4:36.97 which also hit the NCAA provisional list. Campanelli also appeared on the 4 x 400m team, who finished with a season’s best time 4:06.71.
Campanelli wasn’t the only one setting new WVIAC marks as Megan Pratt climbed to the top of the WVIAC meet list. Pratt, securing two first place finishes, launched the hammer 49.94 meters for the meet’s best throw. Although the hammer toss wasn’t her personal best, she managed to PR in the women’s shot put, taking first with a distance of 12.92 meters. Pratt also scored four points in the discus throw, placing fourth behind teammate Emily Taylor. Taylor, who already set a NCAA provisional mark, won the discus throw and was runner-up to Pratt in the hammer and shot as she collected 26 points for the Lady Cardinals.
Rounding out the scoring in the field events were Amanda Wheeler and Kate McCormick, both collecting four points. Wheeler finished fifth in the javelin and the hammer throws while McCormick placed fourth in the triple jump. McCormick also set a PR time in the 400 meter hurdles at 71.34. Freshmen duo, Olivia Lent and Ashley White were outstanding in their WVIAC Championship debut. Lent and White each shelled out a pair of personal best performances in the 100 and 200 meter dash prelims. White placed second in the 100m, with a time of 12.50 for eight points, while the two finished back-to-back in the 200m race as Lent took third (25.94) for six points and White placed fourth (26.05) for three points.
Lent continued to improve her personal best times, earning a second place finish in the 400 meter dash along with being a member on the 4 x100 and 4 x 400 relay teams. The 4 x 100 relay team of Kristen Saggio, who also had a personal best time of 13.12 in the 100m, Lent, Cassie Urbauer and White just missed the school record by one thousandth of a second (48.73) with the season best time of 48.74 which was good for a second place finish behind WV Wesleyan (48.64). The 4 x 400m relay also hit a season best mark with a time of 4:06.71, finishing fourth in the meet. Lindsay Mills, who set a personal best mark in the 400m dash, ran the first leg followed by Campanelli, White and Lent. Senior Julia McGinley scored five points for the Lady Cardinals in her final conference meet. McGinley completed the 1500m run in 4:48.38, which was a personal best time, grabbing the fourth spot while finishing sixth behind teammate Megan Truelove (4th, 19:19.61) in the women’s 5k with a time of 19:47.35. Chelsea Reyher and Jeanne Jendras finalized the personal best performances and scoring for the meet. Reyher achieved a PR with 5:13.77 time in the 1500m while Jendras scored a point for WJU in the 400m hurdles with personal best times in both the 400m (6th, 68.53) and 100m (16.03) hurdle events. Finishing behind WVWC and SHU, the men also received notable performances, setting two NCAA provisional times, two meet records, a school record, four conference championships, and 18 personal best marks.
Nick Bonaventure broke the meet record as well as the school record in the 1500 meter run with a time of 3:59.11. Bonaventure was crowned the 2010 conference champion as he crossed the finish line before the rest of the field. Travis Hamrick also came away a conference champion when he set a meet record in the 800m run, finishing in 1:53.30. Dustin Hall scored 18 points for the Cardinals by winning the men’s 10k (31:45.41) and placing second in the 5k (15:38.30) while Russell Mulley chipped in four points with a fourth place finish in the 10k (34:15.83). Matt Mason along with David Johnson set individual best performances. Mason finished the 1500m run in 4:09.55, and Johnson ran a 58.70 in the 400m hurdles. The men’s 4 x 100m relay team brought home the fourth conference championship. The 4 x 100m comprised of Shane Rabant, Brandon McKinley, Tyler Glover, and Mike Little finished with a NCAA provisional time of 41.20 which is currently the team’s best time of the year. Little and Rabant set personal best times in the 100m prelims, Little with a 10.80 and Rabant with an 11.06, while finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the final race. A week prior, Rabant finished fourth in the men’s decathlon, earning four of his 15 points. In the 200m dash, T.McKinley and Tyler Glover set personal marks in the prelims with times of 22.35 and 22.42, respectively, while Little and B.McKinley used the finals to set theirs. Little hit the NCAA provisional list, taking second place at 21.41 with B.McKinley on his heels at 21.48. The McKinley brothers continued to put up individual best numbers in the 400m dash, long jump, triple jump, and the 4 x 400m relay team. In the 400m dash, Brandon grabbed second place with a time of 48.20 while Travis finished three spots away at 50.47. Brandon scored two points in the long jump with a distance of 6.69m while both McKinley’s scored in the triple jump—Travis finished second at 13.81m and Brandon finished sixth (13.32) for one point. Travis ran the first leg of WJU’s 4 x 400m relay with Hamrick running second, Little running third, and Brandon acting as the anchor. The team finished second behind WVWC with a time of 3:19.18, earning eight points. In the field, Ashton Boger matched his personal best vault as he took eight points and second place at 4.25 meters while James Oliver got up and over the bar safely at 4.10m, earning a fifth place finish. Mike Sammel let the javelin fly for 42.60m for a point as the sophomore finished sixth. Meanwhile, Eric Kearsh had a big PR weekend, increasing his distance in the hammer throw by 3 meters at 45.05. Kearsh earned a second place finish in the event while also setting a career best 13.36m toss in the shot put.
