The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: Sports

Mon. Jan. 26, the Track Teams hosted the Muhlenberg Invitational. Both teams competed against Albright, DeSales, Delaware Valley, Holy Family and Keystone. The women blew their competitors out of the water, finishing 114 points ahead of second place DeSales. Likewise, the men claimed a decisive victory with a 69.5 point margin over DeSales.

In the women's competition, multiple Muhlenberg athletes placed in nearly every event. The Mules had a strong showing in the mile, with junior Sara Gearin, and sophomores Laura Lipari and Jannette Adams sweeping the top three places respectively. The women also conquered the 55 meter hurdles, claiming all places but fifth. Rachel Drosdick won this event with a time of 9.14 seconds. Once again, the dynamic duo of Erika Koop and Katie Hesselink-Hicks captured the top two places in the high jump, each clearing a height of five feet. Senior Jacquelyn Inverso took first in the triple jump and also qualified for the ECAC tournament, with a jump of 34-8.5 ft. For the third meet in a row, freshman Alex Faust cleared a height of 10 ft. in the pole vault. Not only did individuals excel, but the women's 4x400 and 4x1600 relay teams also placed first. The 4x1600 team of Lipari, Adams, sophomore Kathryn Niedzwiecki and Gearin set a new school record in the event with a speedy time of 23:22.88.

The men's team was quite successful in the sprints on Friday, with eight athletes placing in the 55 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. Freshmen Jeremiah Lachaud and Eric Miller, along with junior Dan Steinhart all captured first place in the 55, 200, and 400 respectively. The Mules also had first place finishes from freshman Patrick Thornton in the 800 meters, senior junior Tim Seeley in the mile and Michael Karchner in the 55 meter hurdles. Freshmen Joe Dyer and Eric Miller excelled in the triple jump and long jump respectively. Dyer claimed first with a jump of 39-8 feet, while Miller's leap of 20-5 feet secured second place. The Mules seem to be firing on all cylinders in their third meet of the season. It comes as no surprise that senior Captain Cameron Smith, who placed fifth in the shot put, has high hopes for the season. Smith said, "Coach Hackett has built the program up so much in his time here, and we are trying to do something special this year. Now, instead of athletes coming in and needing a few years to develop, the talent in our freshmen class all the way through our senior experience leads us to high expectations. We expect nothing but the best."

On Sat. Jan. 27 several Mules traveled to the Bison Open at Bucknell. Senior Lex Mercado finished fourth in the 800 meters, with an ECAC qualifying time of 1:57.30. Sophomore Stuart Udis finished sixth in the same race, on the verge of ECAC qualification with a time of 1:58.77. Sophomore David Chorney set a new personal best of 4:26.07 in the mile, shaving more than two seconds off of last week's time. Of the weekend, senior Captain Lex Mercado said, "The meets went well. We had a lot of energy and that energy was evident in our performances. The whole team was supportive of one another and we need to keep doing that for the rest of the season." The track teams will be hosting another home meet on Fri. Feb. 2.

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