Jan. 5, 2013

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa./NEWARK, Del. - The Saint Joseph's women's track team competed at both the Penn State Relays and Delaware Invitational on January 4 and 5.

PENN STATE RELAYS - Complete Results
The Penn State Relays were held this afternoon, January 5, on the course of the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track at State College, Pa. Saint Joseph's competed against host Penn State, Maryland-Baltimore County, Norfolk State, Pittsburgh, Robert Morris, and St. Francis (Pa.).

SJU saw 16 Hawks place in the top ten of 10 different events, highlighted by a first-place performance in the Distance Medley Relay (DMR).

No stranger to the DMR scene, junior Emma Slattery, one-fourth of the current DMR school record-holder, ran the final leg of the event to lead herself, junior Elizabeth Barrett, sophomore Marina Rufo, and freshman Sara Radzwilka to a first-place finish in the event with a time of 12:21.63. The quartet becomes the first to compete in the event for the Hawks at this point in the early season.

Sophomore Kayla Charles came through with a fifth-place finish in the 60m hurdles. With a time of 9.09, Charles finished just one second behind her personal best set at Princeton's New Year's Invitational on December 9.

With a time of 1:20.65*, freshman Dannah Hayward continued her dominance in the 500m dash as she improved on her personal best in the event, previously set at Haverford's Jack Pyrah Invitational, by 0.16 seconds. The time stands as the fastest SJU time of the season in the event and was good for a third-place finish. Junior Jaclyn Kogut placed sixth with a time of 1:21.07*, 0.20 seconds faster than her previous personal-best time in the event set at last season's Penn State Relays. Rufo rounded out the top ten with an eighth-place finish (1:22.54).

In the mile, Slattery clocked in with a time of 5:06.69, good for a fourth-place finish. As she becomes the first competitor in the event for the Hawks so far this season, the time stands as a current team best as well as current season-best for the junior. Additionally, Slattery beat the meet record, previously 5:06.99, by an impressive 0.33 seconds.

The 3000m run was highlighted by the junior trio of Erin James, Hannah Fuller, and Emily Chappell, all of whom raced for the first time this season. James took second place with a time of 10:15.74 while Fuller checked in with a time of 10:28.25, good for a fourth-place finish. Chappell crossed the finish line in 10:35.45*, a 0.21-second improvement on her former personal-best time in the event set at last season's Atlantic 10 Championships.

The 4x400m relay team of Hayward, junior Mercedes Yanora, Charles, and Kogut took sixth in the event with a time of 3:59.99*, a new season-best in the event. As the meet marked the first time that rookie Hayward joined the veterans to form the quartet, the time stands as a personal best for the group.

The 4x800m relay team of senior captain Sara Walker, freshman Lauren Hehir, Radzwilka, and Barrett took second place out of five teams with a time of 9:24.42. The quartet becomes the first to compete in the event for the Hawks at this point in the early season.

The jumps saw five Hawks place, highlighted by sophomore Gabriella Becattini's third-place finish in the triple jump. The sophomore totalled a best jump of 11.19m* (36' 8 1/2"), a new team and personal best in the event. Classmate Kathryn Polaski recorded a final 11.08 (36' 4 1/2) in the event, good for fourth place. Sophomore Brianna Hunt and senior captain Hannah Boyce placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the high jump as each recorded jumps of 1.65m (5' 5"). Senior captain Genevieve Ruppel rounded out the jumps with a 10th-place finish in the long jump (5.03m, 16' 6").

DELAWARE INVITATIONAL - Complete Results
The Delaware Invitational took place at the University of Delaware's Field House on January 4. Saint Joseph's competed against host University of Delaware, Coppin State, and Maryland in the four-team meet.

SJU saw 14 Hawks place in the top ten of six events, highlighted by sophomore Taylor Oskowiak's fourth-place finish in the 1000m run. With a time of 3:15.41*, Oskowiak improved upon her previous personal-best time in the event by an impressive 5.32 seconds.

Freshman Jazmin Dunlap checked in at 8.47 for an eighth-place finish in the 60m dash.

In their collegaite debuts, freshman Emily Chaundy took fifth-place in the 1000m (3:23.55*) while classmate Tiana Pole took ninth in the 60m dash (8.72*) and added a fifth-place finish (9.41*) in the 55m hurdles.

Five Hawks took the five through nine spots of the 800m run, led by rookie Tess Doggett's collegiate-debut fifth-place finish in 2:30.43*. Junior Lisa Chen clocked in with a season-best 2:35.74 while freshman Kathryn Cols (2:35.85*), junior Hannah Brown (2:42.29*), and freshman Melissa Donnelly (2:47.84)* each placed in their collegiate debuts.

Senior Erin Giampietro ran her first collegiate mile in 5:38.34* for a sixth-place finish while junior Darcy O'Connor finished in her first mile event in 6:02.83*, good for ninth.

The 4x400m relay team wrapped up SJU's top-ten finishers as freshman Alana Whitmarsh, senior Kathryn Pratt, senior captain Shannon Geddes, and Dunlap placed fifth with a time of 4:22.00*. As the meet marked the first time that rookies Whitmarsh and Dunlap joined veterans Pratt and Geddes, the time stands as a personal best for the group.

The Hawks will return to action this Friday, January 11, at the Princeton Quad Meet in Princeton, N.J. Start time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Jadwin Gym.

NOTE: "*" - Denotes personal-best time