CUP Swimming at PSAC Championships; Softball Starts Season; Track at Edinboro

Chris Rossetti

Chris Rossetti

Published February 18, 2017 5:16 am
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YORK, Pa. — The Clarion University women’s swimming and diving team currently sits in sixth place with 330 points after day two of the PSAC Championships at the York YMCA Aquatic Complex.

The Blue and Gold return to action tomorrow morning as day three of the four-day competition gets underway.

Reana Valli snagged an 18th-place finish in the 400 yard IM, touching out in 4:44.56. Michele Morrisey was right behind her, snagging a 20th-place mark with a time of 4:45.92.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Abigail Newman, Kelsey Burke, Letizia Collini, and Alexis Lopez managed a top-five finish, taking second overall with a final time of 1:35.93 to earn the Golden Eagles 56 points. In the 100 butterfly, Abigail Newman raced out to a 15th-place mark touching out in 59.02. Katie Gore finished right behind Newman in 19th.

Becca Yonek got in one the fun as well, taking seventh overall in the 200-yard freestyle with a final time of 1:55.03 to earn Clarion 23 points. Alexis Lopez was right behind her in 13th, while Katherine Querciagrossa and Morgan Manglaviti finished 18 and 24th, respectively.

Finally, the 400 medley relay team of Summer Dacheux, Katie Gore, Abbigale Newman, and Collini picked up a sixth-place finish with a final time of 3:57.17.

MEN

YORK, Pa. — The Clarion University women’s swimming and diving team currently sits in third place with 188 points after day two of the PSAC Championships at the York YMCA Aquatic Complex. The Blue and Gold return to action tomorrow morning as day three of the four-day competition gets underway.

The 200-free relay team of Robert Hacku, Joe Folz, Matthew Bair, and Nathan Porter got the Golden Eagles started off on the right note, racing out to a sixth-place finish with a final time of 1:27.11 to earn CU 26 points.

Ben Spencer kept the momentum going shortly thereafter, touching out in 4:01.12 in the 400 IM to snag a third-place finish. Ian Lindsey finished in seventh, with a mark of 4:06.66. Up next was the 100-yard butterfly, where Josh Thurston took 15th overall, touching out in 51.52.

In the 200 freestyle, it was Joseph Folz making noise as he touched out in 1:42.97 to earn a seventh-place finish. Nathan Porter finished in ninth with a final mark of 1:41.13 to earn CU nine points.

Finally, the 400-yard medley relay team of Spencer, Lindsey, Hacku and Thurston snagged a third-place mark with a time of 3:23.29.

SOFTBALL

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Clarion softball team opened its 2017 season but struggled in its first doubleheader of the year, falling 11-0 in five innings to Felician in the early game and 7-0 to Molloy in the nightcap. The Golden Eagles (0-2) will have the opportunity to get right back in the saddle tomorrow, though, with games against Le Moyne and Merrimack scheduled at the Ned Donkle Complex.

Cassidy Runyan and Kira Smith both notched base hits against Felician in the early game, but the Golden Falcons’ Ashley Owens twirled a gem with five innings of shutout ball. Smith also took the circle for the Golden Eagles and took the decision in the loss. A seven-run second inning gave the Golden Falcons the victory.

Clarion had a chance to respond in the second when Smith led off the frame with a single. Laura Sadowski reached first on a fielder’s choice but was erased on the basepaths with a caught stealing with two outs. Runyan led off the Golden Eagles’ fourth inning with a single and was sacrificed to second by Cassie Daniels, but a flyout to center by Taylor Nonnenberg ended the threat. Felician took the 11-0 lead into the end of the fifth inning for the win.

Neither team was able to gain traction early in the game with the Lions, with both teams scoreless through two innings. Rachel Hoffman led off the third inning with a double and was sacrificed to third by Autumn Babcock, but neither Aryn Boyer nor Runyan was able to plate her.

Molloy scored three runs apiece in the third and fourth innings to go ahead 6-0, and then tacked another on in the final inning to complete the win. Hoffman made the start and took the hard-luck loss.

TRACK

EDINBORO, Pa. – The Clarion track & Field team saw two athletes set records and another earn a spot in the conference championships, as the Golden Eagles completed a successful day at the Edinboro Invitational on Friday.

The track highlight of the day came in the sprints, with Jessica Shomo topping her own school record. She cranked out a top-three finish in the 60m, completing the dash in 7.86 seconds to break her own program record and take third in the race. That ranks as the eighth-fastest 60m in the PSAC this season and edged her previous record of 7.87 set during last year’s indoor season. Shomo also took fourth in the Long Jump with a leap of 4.84m.

Not content to be left behind, thrower Kari Steuer decided to get in on the record-breaking fun by breaking her own program record in the Shot Put. Steuer posted one of the best performances in the conference this season, putting the implement 12.98m to take second at the invitational. Compared with the most recent performances in the PSAC, that mark ranks ninth in the conference heading into next week’s championships. It also surpassed her previous program record of 12.80m. Katie Brest also posted a PSAC-qualifying mark of 11.19m, though she had already qualified for the championships.

Another highlight came courtesy of the middle distance events, with the Golden Eagles adding another competitor to the field at next week’s PSAC Track & Field championships. Senior Danielle Tarr recorded a PSAC-qualifying time of 2:22:39 in the 800m, besting her previous best time of 2:25.01 set earlier this year. That mark was good enough for third place in the 800m at the invite.

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