The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 2/8/07 Section: Sports

On Fri. Feb. 2, the Men's and Women's Track and Field teams hosted the Muhlenberg Multi. Several Muhlenberg athletes competed in this pentathalon, which consisted of five events.

Junior Michael Karchner finished in first place overall, accumulating 3,102 points, which is the second best score in team history. Karchner achieved personal records in his first three events on his way to ECAC qualification. Junior Adam Carter also qualified for the ECAC Championships in the pentathalon, finishing with 3,015 points. In the women's competition, senior Rachel Drosdick won with 2,670 points, only 30 points shy of ECAC qualification. She did, however, qualify for the ECACs in the long jump. Fellow senior Kim David also excelled in the pentathalon, earning 2,212 points.

On Saturday, several Mules traveled to East Stroudsburg's DeSchriver Invitational where they competed against the top Division I, II and III athletes in the area. Both members of the men's and women's teams shined amongst this fierce competition. After consistently clearing 10 feet for the past two weeks, freshman Alex Faust cleared a height of 11 feet in the pole vault, which clenched her first place. This vault was within one inch of the Centennial Conference record and within two inches of the NCAA provisional standard.

Junior Sara Gearin excelled once again in the distance events. Gearin finished third overall in the 3000 meters, with a time of 11:11.15. Fellow distance runner sophomore Janette Adams finished the 5000 meters in 19:23.36, claiming fourth place. Sophomore Kathryn Niedzwiecki had a strong performance in the 500 meters, finishing in sixth place with a time of 1:25.73.

Individuals on the men's team also excelled, as five athletes placed within the top eight in their events. Sophomore David Chorney claimed first place in the 3000 meters, with an ECAC qualifying time of 8:51.84. This time ranks second in Muhlenberg Track and Field history. Classmate Stuart Udis captured third place in the 500 meters. Udis's time of 1:08.02 qualified him for the ECACs.

Senior Matthew Sallese threw a distance of 47.25 in the shot put, improving his personal record by two feet. Sallese is now within .75 of an inch of the ECAC qualifying standard. Patrick Thornton ran the 1000 meters in 2:40.89 to claim 8th place, while teammate senior Tim Seeley took 4th in the mile with a time of 4:29.70.

Of the team's recent success, sophomore Ross Cohen, a ridiculously good looking distance runner, said, "Our team is analogous to Bad Boy Entertainment in that we proceed to give you what you need." Cohen then added that with conferences only three weeks away, "The time and effort put into training will soon pay off in the crucial weeks to come."

Both the men's and women's teams return to competition again on Fri. Feb. 9 at the Lafayette Rider Winter Games.

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