Junior Jon Buice reset his own school record in the men's heptathlon on Saturday with a 5,259 point total.
Buice Bashes SU Heptathlon Record at PSU Open
1/31/2009 7:27:36 PM | Track and Field
Videos from PSU National Open:
Owusu-Agyapong (60-meter finals)
LeBlanc (60-meter finals)
Eaton (60-meter hurdles finals)
Results from PSU National Open
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Syracuse men's and women's track & field team returned to the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track at the Penn State National Open on Saturday and also returned to championship form with another Syracuse indoor record being cut down and other top performances from the men's and women's distance contingent.
Junior Jon Buice was the toast of Happy Valley in the heptathlon, not only taking first place, but resetting his old mark of last year for a new Orange school record. Buice's 5,259 points is a new Syracuse standard in the men's indoor heptathlon; the old benchmark was his own score he set last season with 5,068 points.
On Friday, Buice racked up two first-place finishes, a third-place showing and a fourth-place finish. Buice won the long jump crown with a leap of 6.66m and the high jump title with an IC4A-mark of 2.07m. On Saturday, Buice scored a second, third and eighth place finish to hold onto the victory by a 96-point margin. Buice picked up second with a BIG EAST-qualifying time of 8.41 in the 60-meter hurdles and third in the pole vault with a spring of 4.30m.
Buice's teammate, senior Mike Chitro, finished in fourth overall in the heptathlon. Chitro's best performance came in the high jump on Friday with a second-place, BIG EAST-eligible mark of 1.95m.
Second-year harriers Katie Hursey and Catherine DeSarle painted the top of the 3,000-meter run Orange, finishing first and second, in that order, with ECAC-appropriate times of 9:47.14 and 9:50.42. Both marks top the SU charts for the two fastest times in the 3K thus far. Freshman Carly Hamond finished up in seventh place with pace of 10:10.48.
Senior Kyle Heath, SU's first All-American distance runner since Jim O'Connell in 1983, returned to prime form in his first race of 2009 with a swift rate of 4:01.47, good enough for third place and an NCAA Provisional-qualifying bid. Heath was one of four athletes to break the Penn State school record. Heath won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at both the IC4A and BIG EAST Championships last year.
Sophomore Erin Schirm qualified for his first BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championship with a 15th place clip of 4:15.98 in the mile.
Senior Lauren McClenney rounded out a speedy third-place finish with a BIG EAST-qualifying time of 1:15.83 in the 500-meter event; Syracuse's fastest time in that race this season.
In the men's 3,000-meter run, junior Jay Koloseus made the IC4A grade with a sixth-place finish of 8:16.59 while junior Curtis Bixler came in 14th with a time of 8:34.45.
In the mile pursuit, junior Maegan Krifchin finished in 21st with a BIG EAST-qualifying time of 5:03.35 while sophomore Elizabeth McCarter took 23rd to the tune of 5:10.18.
Turning to the women's field events, junior Melissa Romero finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with a BIG EAST-qualifying mark of 1.68m in the high jump. Junior Annabelle Pellerin churned out a measurement of 1.63m for a two-way tie in eighth.
In the men's triple jump, senior Bernard Bush turned in a 17th-place effort with a BIG EAST-qualifying mark of 14.15m.
Syracuse spreads out to the two-day New Balance Challenge in New York, N.Y. on Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7. Those who do not make the trip to the Big Apple will partake in the two-day Syracuse Invitational, hosted at Manley Field House. The SU Invite will be held on the same day as the New Balance Challenge and marks the second meet the Orange has hosted this season.
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