BEHREND WOMEN CLAIM WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

The Penn State Behrend women's track & field team won its first ever United East Outdoor Championship with 180 team points, outscoring nine other teams this weekend. 

Behrend's Lindsey Hartle earned United East Women's Outdoor Co-Track Athlete of the Year with Chay'La Rivers from St. Mary's. Lion head coach Greg Cooper was named the United East Women's Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year.

Penn State Behrend sophomore Julia Balaski set a new United East and school record in the javelin with a throw of 128-6, surpassing her own record of 125-0 that she recorded last season at Carnegie Mellon en route to United East Women's Javelin Champion. Fellow thrower Brianna Downing placed sixth in this event (92-11). Balaski also finished sixth in the high jump (4-4). Hartle was victorious in the 1000m with a time of 47:39.43. She also went on to be the runner-up in the 5000m (20:21.25) and placed fifth in 1500m (5:18.42). Freshman Rylee Long registered third place in the triple jump with a distance of 34-1 3/4. In the 100m hurdles, Haley Felton was third with a time of 17.16. Paige Massey notched a fourth-place throw of 34-1 in the shot put. Ivy Laffan crossed the finish line in 1:01.88 for fourth place in the 400m dash. Madison Kappeler scored a pair of third-place finishes in the 200m dash and fourth-place finish in the 100m dash. Behrend finished third and fourth in the 400m hurdles, thanks to Laffan and Bridget McMaster. The 4x1 relay team of Laffan, Long, Kappeler, and Peyton Grimm ran a time of 51.05 for third place, while the 4x4 relay team of Grimm, Kappeler, Laffan, Victoria Dietrich, Laffan were also bronze medalists with a time of 4:17.13.

The Alfred State College women's track and field team finished third at the United East Conference Championship meet with a total of 113.50 points. Izzy Popoff won the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:58.77. Then Oli Kraynik won the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.32, also in that event Lily Schnell would come in fifth with a time of 1:03.48. Mackenzie Gillette finished second in the hammer throw finals with a best throw of 43.03 meters. Jileena Stearns was also in the top eight as she finished fifth with a best throw of 33.62 meters. Madison Snayczuk notched second place in the triple jump after jumping 10.71 meters. Then in the 100-meter hurdles, Charis Evans and Adriana Gill finished in fifth and sixth respectively. Evan ran an 18.79 for fifth, while Gill ran a 19.45 for sixth. Then in the 400-meter hurdles, Gill came in fifth, followed by Evans in eighth. The trio of Popoff, Hailey Kumpf and Olivia Plummer finished top five in the 800-meter run. Popoff led the way in second with a time of 2:27.52, followed by Kumpf (2:27.66) in third, and Plummer (2:38.99) in fifth. Sarah Rivet ran a 26.60 200-meter dash for fifth place. Then in the 100-meter dash she finished in seventh with a time of 13.08. Then in the 4x400 the team of Schnell, Rivet, Kumpf, and Kraynik won with a time of 4:08.34. In the 4x100 meter relay, the team of Rivet, Kraynik, Walter, and Snayczuk came in fourth with a time of 51.28. 

The Hilbert College women's track and field team concluded their first championship meet on Sunday as they finished in seventh place. The Hawks scored 39 points, combining their team points in the 5000 m run, 1500 m run, high jump, 100 m hurdles, 4x400 relay, javelin throw and 400 m dash. Maddie Fusco finished her athletic career in style, winning the 5000m run in 19:19.09 to earn the track and field program's first individual medal.  Earlier in the day, Fusco earned 8 points in the 1500m run with a second place 5:01.68 time. Tahlia Kosek earned three top eight finishes, collecting six points in the high jump (1.42m), five points in the 100 hurdles (18.50) and three points with a 27.51 toss in the javelin. Madison Matuszak finished seventh in the 400m dash as the other individual scorer. The 4x400 relay team of Alexandra Liszkiewicz, Kosek, Paige Gajewski,and Matuszak earned five points with their fourth-place finish in 4:35.27. 

Final Standings (* = AMCC teams)
1. Penn State Behrend (180)*
2. St. Mary's (MD) (159.5)
3. Alfred State (113.5)*
4. Gallaudet (78)
5. Penn State Harrisburg (69)
6. Lancaster Bible (55.5)
7. Hilbert (39)*
8. Carlow (36.5)*
9. Cedar Crest (26)
10. St. Elizabeth (6)