BETHANY, W.Va. – The Bethany College men’s track team broke two school records and totaled four first place finishes, while the Bison women finished in second place overall during Wednesday’s PAC South Quad Match.
The match was held at Bison Stadium, which was refurbished in the summer of 2008. Wednesday was the first home match at Bethany since the reconstruction and their first home meet since hosting PAC Championships in 2001. The Bison women scored 157 points to finish behind only Waynesburg (209) and BC’s men totaled 117 to take third behind Waynesburg (160) and Geneva (130).
Highlighting the day for the BC men was a pair of school records getting reset. In the field, freshman Nathanial Hensh (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands), who tied the Bethany record in the pole vault earlier this year, cleared 14-6 to surpass the previous mark by six inches. Hensh was followed in the pole vault by freshman teammate Clinton Fisher (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central), who finished second (10-6).
The other record to fall came in the 100, where freshman Marcus Johnson (Tampa, Fla./Thomas Jefferson) raced to the finish line in 10.97 seconds, which shaved .03 off the previous record of 11.00 set by Chris Gardner in 2005. It was a big day for the Bethany sprinters, as senior Taylor McNeil (Old Saybrook, Conn.) earned second behind Johnson with a time of 11.04.
McNeil would also gather one of the other first place finishes, as he won the 200 with a time of 22.65, while freshman Willis Powell (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) was third (23.01). The fourth win by the Bison came in the field, where sophomore Seth Myers (Valley Grove, W.Va./Wheeling Park) pulled out a throw of 139-11 on his final attempt to take first place.
Other top three finishes by BC competitors came from freshman Matt Schrumpf (McMechen, W.Va./Bishop Donahue ) and freshman Raymear Pinchom (Willingboro, N.J.), who earned second (52.96) and third (53.39) in the 400 and the 4×400 relay team finished second (3:37.79).
For Bethany’s women, they won a pair of events, including senior Alissa Moss (Washington, Pa./Chartiers-Houston) with a first place in the 3,000 Steeplechase (13:22.27) and the 4×100 relay team of junior Kelli McAbier (Gnadenhutten, Ohio/Indian Valley), sophomore Kaitlyn Black (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley), senior Jodi Bodo (Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville Catholic Central) and senior Rachael Katsur (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) that recorded a time of 51.62 to take first by more than two seconds.
The Bison compiled a large amount of top three finishes on the track for the day, which included runner-up placements by Bodo in the 200 (26.03) and 400 (58.71); Black finishing third in the 200 (27.44) and 400 (1:00.43); Katsur finishing second in the 100 (13.59); junior Joanna Mongelluzzo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) earning third in the 800 (2:32.06); senior Maggie McCort (Fort Ashby, W.Va./Frankfort) taking third in the 1,500 (5:19.34); junior Desiree Finley (Nanticoke, Pa./Hanover Area) and McAbier finishing second (16.64) and third (17.23) in the 100 hurdles; and Finley grabbing second in the 400 hurdles (1:08.76).
Bethany also posted several strong performances in the field events. Sophomore Cassie Allen (Washington, Pa./Canon-McMillan) took third in the high jump (4-9.75) and long jump (15-10.75); Finley was second in the pole vault (10-0); and junior Tara Harris (Zanesville, Ohio) placed third in the shot put (33-8.75) and discus (111-05).
The Bison will continue their preparation for May 1st PAC Championships by competing at the Baldwin-Wallace Invitational this Saturday.
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