Orange Track and Field Team Gears Up for ECAC and IC4A Championships
5/12/2004 9:50:04 AM | Track and Field
Juniors Johvonne Hernandez will compete in three events this weekend. She is fresh off her BIG EAST Championship feats that earned her Most Outstanding Field Performer honors. With 28 points from two titles and a second-place finish, she led the SU women to fourth place in the team standings. Her throw of 61.59 meters in the hammer throw not only earned her the victory, but it also broke the meet record and exceeded her own school record by more than two meters (59.55 meters). Hernandez won the shot put title with a season-best and NCAA Regional-qualifying heave of 15.89 meters, which was less than one meter short of the BIG EAST outdoor meet record. She also earned All-BIG EAST recognition in the discus with a second-place finish. Hernandez' best discus performance was a winning throw of 52.50 meters at the Penn Relays.
Junior Jenna Grimaldi also earned All-BIG EAST honors at the league meet last weekend, and will try to continue her success in the high jump at the ECAC Championship. Her best performance of the season was a leap of 1.77 meters at the Raleigh Relays. Grimaldi earned All-America status at the NCAA Outdoor meet in 2002.
Senior LaNae Walker was named to the All-BIG EAST team with a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, and will race against the ECAC field this weekend. Walker’s time of 59.86 was her best of the season and also qualifies her for the NCAA Regional.
Graduate student Aprelle Watkins will compete in her first ECAC Outdoor competition after qualifying in both the long jump and the triple jump. Watkins recorded the Orange's top mark of the season in the triple jump at the BIG EAST Championship with a leap of 12.76 meters. Watkins' best performance in the long jump was a leap of 6.07 meters at the BIG EAST meet.
Junior Tatiana Warren is also competing in two events. She has qualified in the long jump and the triple jump. She holds SU's top mark in the long jump this season, 6.19 meters, which earned her fouth place at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship. Her best performance in the triple jump was a leap of 12.23 meters at the Hurricane Invitational.
Two additional SU women, sophomore thrower Kristen Michalski and freshman jumper Sheron Mark, will compete this weekend. Michalski will join Hernandez in the hammer throw competition. She qualified for the ECACs as well as the NCAA Regional with a throw of 56.82 meters at the Penn Relays. Mark will be competing in her first regional meet. Her leap of 12.17 meters in the triple jump at the BIG EAST meet qualified her for the ECACs.
Sophomore pole vaulter Jessyca Jackson, who holds the SU record of 3.60 meters, will try to pass her own mark and qualify for the NCAA Regional this weekend. Junior Valerie Boling will also try to meet the NCAA standard in the 100-meter dash. Her best time of the season, 11.99, which she ran at the BIG EAST Championship, is just 0.21 seconds off the NCAA mark.
On the men's side, junior Valerij Petrulevich, an All-BIG EAST Indoor selection this season, will race in the 800-meter run. His top time this season was 1:52.07 at the Chancellor's Cup. Sophomore Chris Muldoon earned all-league honors at the outdoor meet with a second-place finish in the 5,000-meter run, and he will run in the 1,500-meter race at the IC4A meet.
Freshman sprinter Martin Semenowicz will make his first IC4A appearance. His best time in the 100-meter dash is 10.73, which he ran at the BIG EAST Championship. Semenowicz recorded his personal-best performance in the 200-meter dash at the Chancellor's Cup with a time of 21.31.
In the throwing circle, the Orange have two competitors in the men's shot put. Graduate student Steve Bedard will make his final appearance at the IC4A. His best throw this season of 16.77 meters at the BIG EAST Championship qualified him for the NCAA Regional and earned him all-league honors. Freshman Dan Pribula will get his first introduction at the IC4As after qualifying in the shot put with a throw of 15.68 meters at the league championship.
The competition begins with the women's heptathlon and the men's decathlon on Thursday, May 13, and continues through May 16. A schedule of events as well as complete results will be available on the ECAC's official website, www.ecac.org.
