Hounds Capture 7th Straight Landmark Indoor Championship
SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The Moravian College women’s indoor track & field team is still the only program in the history of the Landmark Conference as the Greyhounds captured their seventh consecutive title at the 2014 meet hosted by Susquehanna University Saturday, defeating the host Crusaders by 37 points, 190-153.
SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's indoor track & field team is still the only program in the history of the Landmark Conference as the Greyhounds captured their seventh consecutive title at the 2014 meet hosted by Susquehanna University Saturday, defeating the host Crusaders by 37 points, 190-153.
Third-year Head Coach Jesse Baumann, who has won every track & field championship for both men and women since taking over the program, and his staff of assistants were named the Landmark Conference Co-Coaching Staff of the Year along with the staff from Susquehanna.
Freshman Lauren Suelke picked up the Greyhounds' first individual title with a jump of 5.13 meters (16 feet, 10 inches) as Moravian finished 1-2-3 in the event, and Suelke was named the Co-Field Athlete of the Year with Mary Clark from The Catholic University of America on a vote by the conference coaches at the conclusion of the meet. Sophomore Christelle Reglas was second with a mark of 5.08 meters (16 feet, eight inches) while freshman Casey Raymond finished third at 4.97 meters (16 feet, 3 ¾ inches).
Suelke also took fourth in the high jump, clearing 1.42 meters (four feet, 7 ¾ inches), and she was third in the triple jump at 10.37 meters (34 feet, ¼ inch). Freshman Kiara Bright was fifth in the triple jump for the Greyhounds.
Moravian's 4x200-meter relay squad of juniors Brianna Wright, Morgan Redmond and Brielle Sutter and Reglas won the race with an ECAC qualifying time of 1:46.94.
Redmond also captured the title in the 60-meter hurdles in an ECAC qualifying time of 9.39 seconds after a personal record of 9.32 in the preliminaries while freshman Meghan Newman was fourth in the hurdles. Sutter was the runner-up in the 200-meter dash in 26.72 seconds while sophomore Corinne Glass placed sixth. Sutter also took third in the 400-meter run with an ECAC qualifying mark of 1:00.39 with Redmond finishing sixth to earn a point for the Hounds' team score.
Wright led four Hounds in the finals of the 60-meter dash with an ECAC qualifying time and personal record of 8.03 seconds for her runner-up finish. Suelke took third while Reglas was fourth and freshman Lauren White finished fifth.
In the distance races, junior Claire Del Casale was the runner-up in the 5,000-meter run in an ECAC qualifying time of 18:32.01 while freshman Meg Brockett took fourth. Junior Emily Lambright finished second in the mile run with a time of 5:19. 25. Lambright also took second in the 3,000-meter run and was followed by Del Casale in second and Brockett in third.
"The meet was very tight, much closer than the score indicates," Baumann stated. "Heading into the 3,000 meters, it looked like the meet could swing either way, and we were relying on athletes who had already doubled to help distance ourselves from Susquehanna. Fortunately Claire, Emily, and Meg all had great races that helped to seal the meet for us."
Senior Jennifer Smilgis earned a runner-up finish in the 800-meter run for the Greyhounds in a personal record time of 2:23.94 while Lambright finished fourth and freshman Larissa Strycharz in the race.
Smilgis, Glass, Sutter and Redmond finished second in the final race of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay.
Moravian's 4,000-meter distance medley relay squad of senior Jennifer Parodi, juniors Jessie Goldberg and Alyssa Tallon and freshman Erin Love finished in third place to earn points for the Hounds.
Junior Dana Fineman finished as the runner-up in the pole vault with a height of 2.89 meters (nine feet, 5 ¾ inches) while Raymond placed third at 2.59 meters (eight feet, six inches).
Junior Jenny Kratch paced the Hounds in the throwing circle with a runner-up finish in the 20-pound weight throw after a toss of 13.90 meters 45 feet, 7 ¼ inches), and Kratch was fifth in the shot put at 10.87 meters (35 feet, eight inches). Freshman Jackie Finnegan finished fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 12.54 meters (41 feet, 1 ¾ inches).
"We had some tough breaks in some of the field events and sprints, but as with any conference meet, you have so many athletes, you'll have some highs and lows," Baumann said. "Lauren White, Morgan Redmond, and Meghan Newman all had huge PRs in the dash/hurdles today, Lauren Suelke pulled off a great triple that earned her field athlete of the meet, Corinne Glass coming off an injury qualified for ECACs and had a great 4x4 leg, plus Jacki Finnegan had a great PR in the weight today. Those are just a few of the highlights, but it really was a team effort that all helped to contribute to a hard-fought team victory."
The Greyhounds are slated to return to action on Friday and Saturday, March 7 & 8 at the 2014 ECAC Division III Indoor Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury Crossing, Massachusetts.
