STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's men's track and field relays combined for three IC4A qualifications and four top-three finishes at the unscored Penn State Relays at Penn State University's Ashenfelter III Indoor Track on Saturday afternoon. Individually, senior Tyler Gallen (500m) and junior Alec Peabody (200m) qualified for the IC4A Championships in their respective events. Additionally, the 4x200m relay of junior Chris Banks, freshman David Henderson, sophomore Torey Doaty, and Peabody set SJU's new school record in 1:28.00.
Saint Joseph's was one of just two squads to place four of its relays in the top three of four of five total relay events and the only school to place in the top three of the 4x2, 4x4, DMR, and 4x1 Mile.
Saint Joseph's saw its three relay IC4A qualifications come from its Distance Medley Relay, 4x400m relay, and 4x800m relay.
The DMR of senior Steve Butenewicz, sophomore Eddison Gulama, and graduate students Aaron Leskow and Rad Gunzenhauser placed third out of 12 squads in 10:11.02 to become the SJU's first DMR of the season to qualify for IC4As.
The 4x4 of Banks, Doaty, and seniors Matthew McGarvey and Gallen ran a 3:18.54 to also earn third. The group set SJU's fastest 4x4 of the season en route to the IC4A qualification.
Leskow, Gulama, McGarvey, and Butenewicz would team up for the first of two SJU 4x8s that would qualify for IC4As as the group raced to a fourth-place finish in 7:38.83.
SJU's “B” 4x8 of senior Jamie Gentile, freshman Kenny Evely, sophomore Jack Magee, and senior Brady Deckert placed seventh in 7:51.99, which also met the IC4A standard.
Saint Joseph's saw its pair of silver medals come from its 4x200m relay and 4x1 Mile relay groups.
SJU's new 4x2 recordholder group of Banks, Henderson, Doaty, and Peabody flew to a time of 1:28.00 for second overall. The group missed the title, to LIU Brooklyn, by just .29 seconds. The previous record was 1:28.52, posted by Tom DiNatale, Paul Barolette, Drew Brandt, and Bobby Staten in 2009.
The 4x1 Mile quartet of senior Paul Szulewski, junior Quinn Davis, Gunzenhauser, and sophomore John Mascioli took second overall in 17:34.03.
On the afternoon, Leskow (DMR, 4x8), Gulama (DMR, 4x8), Butenewicz (DMR, 4x8), and McGarvey (4x4, 4x8) ran legs on multi-qualifying relays. Gunzenhauser ran legs on the IC4A-qualifying and third-place DMR and second-place 4x1 Mile while Banks and Doaty ran legs on the IC4A-qualifying 4x4 and second-place 4x2.
In addition to anchoring the third-place 4x4, Gallen led five Hawks in the 500m with a second-place finish in an IC4A-qualifying 1:04.48, his best 500m time since March of 2013. Gallen now owns the fastest SJU 500m on the season and joins Doaty and Gulama in becoming the third Hawk to qualify for IC4As in the long sprint event.
In addition to anchoring the second-place 4x2, Peabody led six Hawks in the 200m with a ninth-place finish, crossing the finish line in an IC4A-qualifying 22.23. With his performance, Peabody becomes the first Hawk to qualify for the IC4A Championships in the individual short sprints this season.
Graduate student Peter Larmann placed sixth in a field of 32 runners in the 500m in a season-best 1:05.83, just 0.63 seconds off from IC4A qualification. The time marks Larmann's second-best 500m time of his career and his first sub-1:06. 500m race since February 8, 2013.
SJU's lead runners in additional events included junior Michael Coleman, who placed eighth in the 1000m in 2:39.87, sophomore Jimmy Daniels, who led five Hawks in the 3000m in 8:58.59 for 11th, and sophomore Andy Arencibia, who crossed the finish line of the 60m in a career-best 7.53 for 33rd overall.
The Hawks return to action at the Lehigh University Angry Birds Meet in Bethlehem, Pa. next Saturday, January 17.
