Syracuse University
Florida State Relays
Hill's Heave Earns Top Billing for SU
3/27/2009 10:41:20 PM | Track and Field
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Another day of heavy rain hampered day two of the 30th annual Florida State Relays, but despite the gloomy weather, SU's junior Lorraine Hill emerged with a first-place finish in the javelin throw. Hill's toss of 38.70 eclipsed a BIG EAST-qualifying mark in the rout of eight other competitors.
The Orange women continued their dominance in the javelin toss as sophomore Kelsey Rubeor hurled a first-place toss of 35.67m as part of the women's heptathlon event. Junior Uhunoma Osazuwa cleared 26.71m in the same event for fifth.
Osazuwa added to her lofty point total in the long jump with a second-place leap of 5.53m while Rubeor's mark of 4.88m yielded eighth. Osazuwa and Rubeor wrapped up the heptathlon with fifth and seventh place finishes in the 800-meter run in times of 2:33.78 and 2:42.39, respectively.
The men pressed on with the decathlon, recording two first-place showings, one second-place performance and three third-place finishes.
Senior Mike Chitro topped South Florida's Grant Scelzi by 0.70m in the discus throw for first place with a toss of 35.92m. Senior Eric Cleckner found himself in third after a mark of 33.58m in the same challenge.
Cleckner mowed down eight other challengers for top billing in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:37.35 while Chitro picked up another third-place mark of 5:06.02. Cleckner's hurl of 47.30m in the javelin toss generated second place for SU while Chitro collected fifth with a lob of 44.05m. Chitro notched SU's final top three decoration in the 110-meter hurdles to the tune of 15.44 while Cleckner earned seventh with a time of 16.99.
Turning to the field, newcomer Ieva Staponkute reaped another second-place performance for the Orange with a vault of 5.49m in the women's long jump while senior Melissa Romero grabbed sixth place by jumping for 5.21m.
Senior Bernard Bush mirrored Staponkute's ways with an IC4A-qualifying spring of 7.23m for second-place while junior Victor Nwosu picked up fifth after clearing 6.63m.
Second-year hurler Kwaku Boah just missed out on surpassing the BIG EAST mark, but still managed to register a second-place showing of 14.39m in the shot put.
Turning to the oval, seniors Skyy Simmons and Lauren McClenney competed in their respective 400-meter dash races. Simmons bolted for a fifth-place time of 49.50 while McClenney was slotted in sixth after busting the tape in 59.06.
The Orange wraps up the three-day FSU Relays tomorrow, March 28, at the Mike Long Track. Syracuse will feature its premiere sprinting corps in the 4 x 100-meter relay in the final leg of the competition.
