Sarver finishes Ist in 1500 at Geneva; qualifies for nationals by Scott Soltis staff writer The track and field team recorded many outstanding performances at the Western Pa. Collegiate Championships at Geneva College last weekend. In this first scored meet of the season, the men finished second behind Duquesne and beat five other teams. The women’s team didn’t fare quite as well, finishing fifth out of eight teams. Coach Dave Cooper attributed this to the size of the team. ‘To take the low numbers we have on the women’s team and still place in all three relays says a lot for the women’s team,” said Cooper. The teams were competitive, but one athlete stole the show. Going into last Saturday, Jessica Sarver had not lost in the 1500. She beat competition from University Park and continuously bettered her times. At Geneva, Sarver ran a 4:43.98, taking first in the event and setting a new school record. Her time also qualifies her for nationals. Sarver ran this race a mere 40 minutes after running a lqg of the 4 x 800 Relay. That relay team (Sarver, Jessica Knapp, Claire Manelick, and Suzie Szafran) finished in second place and set a new school record with its time of 12:10.08. Sarver truly had a remarkable day, setting a 1500 record that will not soon be eclipsed (unless she does it herself) and competing on an outstanding relay team. As if Sarver’s performances were not enough, the women’s team had another athlete who accomplished an incredible feat. Lindsey Schulte placed in all four of her events at Geneva. She ran a 13.01 in the 100 to finish second and qualify for the ECACs. In the 200, Schulte placed third and in the triple jump, she captured fourth. She also placed third in the 4 x 100 relay with Heather Efaw, Marlena McNutt, and Amanda Van Tassel with a time of 52.42. Also qualifying for the ECACs for the women was McNutt, who ran a 13.19 in the 100 and will join Schulte in the race. The only team to beat the men’s squad was Division 1 powerhouse Duquesne University, due to strong performances across the board. Overall, the Behrend men placed in 14 of the 18 events. Two athletes placed in three events for the team last weekend. Mike Barlett took second in the 800 by setting a new school record with a time of 1:58.25. This time was also'good enough to qualify Barlett for the ECACs. Barlett.was alsq.a member of two relay teams. The 4 x 800 team won the event and set a new Behrend best with a time of 8:09.56. The team included Barlett, Bill McKinney, Jay Davids, and Brian Wheeler. The final event in which Barlett placed was the 4 x 400 relay. Along with McKinney, Keith Cerroni, and Dave Ober, the team placed second. Ober also had another big day. He set a new school record in the 200 by running a 22.98 that was good for second place. In the 400, Ober ran a 50.29 to take third Morning briefing and other humorous thoughts by Steve Springer Los Angeles Times One would think the first requirement of memorabilia is that it be memorable. But one would be wrong. “A California company called Sports Artifacts,” writes Jeff Miller in the Miami Herald, “is advertising a bat once used by Dann Bilardello. For $35, you can secure a piece of this catcher’s legendary career. We wouldn’t suggest using the bat, though, since it obviously doesn’t work. In eight seasons, Bilardello hit .204. “There is also a bronze sculpture of ex-big-league (pitcher) Matt Young, who was (40) games under .500 for his career. As silly as this might sound, how about the asking price of $9,800? So why Matt Young? The artist is his cousin.” Trivia time: at With 13 NBA titles, the Lakers are second to the Boston Celtics (16). Who is next in line? Sticky item: at Curt Mueller, a Wisconsin gum maker, paid $lO,OOO at a charity auction for a piece of bubble gum chewed by Arizona Diamondback outfielder Luis Gonzalez. Sickly item: Mike Tyson has been castigated, and rightly so, for biting off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s right ear in their 1997 heavyweight title match. But as low as Tyson sunk that night, he was not alone. The chunk of Holyfield’s ear was recovered and frozen on ice in order to be surgically reattached. But somewhere between the ring and the hospi tal, the ear piece disappeared, apparently stolen by a memo rabilia hunter. Grand item: Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once purchased a trip to a fire station for his kids at a charity auction for $l,OOO. Gretzky wrote out a check and sent it up to the auc tioneer. “And the next item to be auctioned off,” said the auc tioneer, “is a check signed by Wayne Gretzky. More to it than meets the eye: ESPN “SpoitsCenter an chor Stuart Scott was injured while doing a story on the rig ors of trying out for the New York Jets. During a workout, he was struck in the eye by a football propelled from a mechani cal device. “He had the eye looked at and they feel that things will get back to normal,” network spokesman Chris LaPlaca told the Houston Chronicle. Follow up: Chris Cain, golf pro at Penn State, set a Guinness World Record on Wednesday by playing 505 holes in 12 hours on Penn State’s White Course. The previous mark had been 476 holes in 12 hours. Targeting those terrible Tigers: With the announcement that Kmart is ending its sponsorship of Detroit teams, including the struggling Detroit Tigers, comedian Jay Leno said, “Oh man how embarrassing is that? Kmart thinks you’re a loser.” Looking back: On April 19,1897, John J. McDermott won the first Boston Marathon in 2 hours 55 minutes 10 seconds. r»n sundav Khalid Khannouchi set a world record at the Lon don Marathon with a time of 2:05:38. TVivia answer The Chicago Bulls with six. Hugeting those terrible Tigers II: "Did you hear about the banner on the side of Ford Field?” writes Terry Foster in the Detroit News. “It reads: ‘Go Lions.’ Underneath, it says: ’And tfllr« the Tigers with you.”’ Jessica Sarver place. Finishing just behind Ober in the 400 was McKinney, who took fourth. Isiah Meek hurled his way to two new school records on Saturday. His 110 high hurdles performance was good for a second place and made the new record 15.17. In the 400 intermediate hurdles. Meek ran a 58.07 that helped him take fourth place. In the distance events, Kevin Ritzert took third in the 10000. His time of 33.51 set a new school record. Jumper Josh Carmichael had a productive day with his fourth place finish in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. Finishing just behind Carmichael was Chris Ober, who took sixth. Jay Davids dominated the high jump, winning the event with a jump of 5-11. In the pole vault, Dan Hackworth cleared 13-0 to win the event with Steve Feder six inches below him for third. The throwers had a fruitful day with two Nicks taking first and second in the javelin. Nick Peth won the event with a throw of 158-0. Nick Benkovich was four feet behind Peth, but still took second. Also taking a second place was Tom Ashcroft in the discus. The teams travel down 1-79 to compete at Slippery Rock this weekend. The team continues to improve week after week, and is qualifying many athletes for the ECACs. Although it is unlikely that there will be any more national qualifiers anytime soon, Sarver’s performance at Geneva will not be forgotten. The fact that a Behrend athlete can qualify for such a prestigious competition will have a positive effect on the team, and will show future runners that they do not have to go Division I to accomplish something great. Caught in the draft(niks): They sit with their noses pressed against their computer screens, their thumbs immersed in me dia guides, their thoughts filled with a whirlwind of obscure numbers. They are the obsessive followers of the NFL draft, known as draftniks. and this is their big week leading up to Saturday’s opening selections. “Do you know any draftniks? writes Bob Sansevere in the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. “Maybe you’re in an intimate relationship with one. You’ll know it if they a.) care more about Ashley Lelie’s vital statistics than yours, b.) would rather work on their mock draft than spend time with you, c.) yell out Mel Kiper’s name in the middle of the night, or d.) all of the above. “If you don’t know who Ashley Lelie (Hawaii receiver) or Mel Kiper (analyst) are, good for you. It means you have a life.” Trivia time: Who was the first player selected by Dallas owner Jerry Jones in his first draft with the Cowboys? This is his life: With his team having fallen on hard times, Jones has the sixth pick in the draft, and he is bursting with excitement. “Put me in coach, I’m hot,” he told Randy Gal loway of the Fort Worth Star-Tfelegram. “I know, I just know we are going to do we 11.... I’m not nervous because I feel this is the most prepared we’ve been in years for a draft. ... But I’m on the edge of my seat. I’m excited. We really have the ammo available to us this time.” Sounds like a draftnik with money. Also exposed to a draft: The changes in Cowboy person nel won’t stop at the sidelines. The organization is also plan ning new additions to the roster of its famed cheerleader squad. The Cowboys have employed the services of Options, a tal ent search firm, to conduct a nationwide hunt for new cheer leaders. “We would like a more diverse cross-section of American women,” Kelli Finglass, Cowboy cheerleading director, told the Tampa Tribune. “There is a lot of great tal ent in places that don’t have NFL teams,” said Erin Cameron of Options. “There is no height or weight criteria. We’re look ing at the person as a whole.” Uh-huh. Sure they are. Bad look: With the announcement by the Houston Rock ets that they will have new uniforms next season, sportswriter Jonathan Feigen expresses his fondest hope in the Houston Chronicle: “That the Rockets will never again be as stubborn as they were in forcing the league’s most hideous get-ups on the players and fans of what was then a championship team. The Rockets’ uniforms were, from the start, obviously ama teurish and garish. They should have been burned years ago, long before they became out of date...lf the move to the stripes was the start of a downward cycle, the Rockets can hope some thing beautiful could emerge from exorcising their curse. If not, at least they can look better.” Trivia answer: Quarterback Troy Aikman out of UCLA in 1989. And finally: Bud Geracie in the San Jose Mercury News: “Cleveland G.M. Mark Shapiro said Chuck Finley is experi encing ‘the regular ups and downs people go through in their personal lives,’ and who among us hasn’t been pounded with a high-heel shoe by a beauty queen who used to be married to a rock star?” SPORTS Friday, April 19, 2002 This week s r senior athletic profile j Keith Cerroni: Shin splints , i torn hamstrings won't stop I this dedicated runner by Kate Levdansky Petrikis assistant sports editor I During his freshman year at Behrend, Keith Cerroni I passed out at an indoor track meet. After going to the doctor, he was told that he needed to change his diet, perhaps even consider giving up pop. Cerroni has not had pop since he went to see the doctor that day. I “I think this shows my commitment to track,” said ( Cerroni Cerroni has run track and field since his freshman year at Central High School, where he was the salutatorian of his class. Cerroni says the highlight of his high school career was winning the 4 x 400 meter relay at the McDowell Invitational. At the time, it was a meet and school record. He has also competed all four years while at Behrend. Cerroni runs the 100 dash, 200 dash, and 4x400 relay. At Behrend, Cerroni says the highlight of his career was performing at the indoor championship meet. The ECACs were in Massachusetts this year, and he ran in the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relays. Cerroni’s strength as a sprinter is definitely his start. “I am very good out of starting blocks. My strongest event is the 400 meter dash,” said Cerroni. “Keith wears his heart on his sleeve and brings his best effort every day,” said teammate Jay Davids. “What more could you ask of someone? He is always there to give words of encouragement and praise. It makes us feel good when we do well and makes us feel not as disappointed when we perform poorly.” I Cerroni said, “My coaches here at | Behrend have taught me the | importance of staying positive. I have had a lot of | injuries the last few years, and have even won the I trainer’s not-so-coveted Johnson and Johnson Award | (for being hurt), but my coaches do not let doubts of I re-injury creep into my mind. They are there for all I of their athletes. , “Whether we are hurt, performing poorly, or even doing great, they always remind us to stay focused j and confident. I would like to say thank you to my ' three coaches. It is their first year coaching college I track and field athletes, and they have done a great job.” Did someone say injury? Cerroni has had numerous injuries which have plagued him through his college career. For starters, Cerroni always gets shin splints. He says they are painful, but do not prevent him from running. Advil and lots of icing temporarily cure his shin splints. During his sophomore year, things went beyond mere shin splints. He pulled his right hamstring during outdoor season (around early May). He missed only two or three meets due to that. Then, last year, he severely tore the same hamstring at the beginning of outdoor season. He missed all of the meets up until the final one. At that meet, he tried to run the 400 dash and qualify for the championship meet. He tore his hamstring again halfway through the race, and that ended his season. “The third tear was probably the hardest to overcome,” said Cerroni. “It sent me into the off season with a lot of doubt about my ability to ever compete again. The doubts though, have all but disappeared. This season my coaches and teammates have helped me get my confidence and leg strength back, and I am finally running fast again.” “Even though he could not compete he was still there supporting us every day,” said Davids. “He finally seems to be getting healthy again, and is making a valuable contribution to the team in the 4 x 400 meter relay.” “Training for track is very intense,” said Cerroni. The hard workouts in the winter usually consist of running up the Ohio hill numerous times. Then, they progress to the upper parking lot where they would run 100 s, 200 s, and 300 s. Now, they do sprint workouts at the Behrend Fields and Harborcreek High School’s track. “For example, today we ran the Behrend Field hill to build up lactic acid. We did 2 x 50 meters, 2 x 100 meters, and 1 x 200 meters. Then we went up to the fields and did 10 minutes of sprints. We would sprint for 30 seconds, jog for about a minute or two, and then sprint again for a certain amount of time until we reached 10 minutes of sprints. Easier workouts consist of long runs and plyometrics.” In summer and fall for off-season training, Cerroni mostly does long runs and hill workouts. “The training facilities here are terrible,” said Cerroni. ‘The indoor jogging track is a joke. We run in roads and parking lots all year. It is dangerous, and bad for our legs. Runners can’t really even use the jogging track, because the turns are so sharp. At best we used it to warm up on in the winter. The only good thing about having such PHOTO BY BECKY WEINDORF / BEHREND BEACON Keith Cerroni is so dedicated to track that when doctors told him he should give up pop if he wanted to continue running in his freshman year, he did it. Three years later, he is still one of the rare college students who doesn’t drink soda. terrible facilities is that it makes us tougher runners. We are used to the worst, so when we go to a meet and it is windy and cold, we have an advantage over the other schools.” In order to prepare for meets, Cerroni eats a healthy dinner and gets a good night’s sleep the night before a meet. Before races he warms up for 30-45 minutes, “Warm-ups include a bunch of goofy looking activities that make you look stupid, but help prevent you from getting hurt,” says Cerroni. Cerroni says track definitely keeps him very busy. He spends 25-30 hours a week with the team between practice and meets. Practice is from aprroximately 4-7 p.m. daily, and meets are always on Saturday and usually last from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. All of the hard work pays off, however. ‘The team is doing great this year,” said Cerroni. “We have already qualified a lot of people for our championship meet, and we still have three more meets to improve. School records are falling left and right, and one girl has even qualified for nationals.” Cerroni’s goal for this season is to run a 50-second split in the 4 x 400 meter relay. Aside from the track life, Cerroni has other responsibilities as well as some more relaxing activities. For one, he is a resident assistant. In his spare time, he enjoys watching movies. “A movie makes a great two hour escape from reality,” said Cerroni. Some of his personal favorites are, “The Princess Bride,” “Shawshank Redemption,” “Rear Window,” “Lord of the Rings,” and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” But movies aren’t the only influences in Cerroni’s life. “The biggest influence in my life is definitely my mother,” said Cerroni. “She is a very kind and hard working person, and she does her best to pass those qualities on to me. She has always supported me in everything I have done, and given me the opportunity and guidance to be the person I am today.” Cerroni is majoring in Business, Liberal Arts, and Science (BLASC). “I choose this major because I did not want to commit to one specific area of study. I still do not know what I want to do once I graduate, so a general major was the best choice for me,” said Cerroni. “Keith is always thinking about what is best for the team, not just what is best for him,” said Davids. “In a sport that many people like to think of as a competition of individuals he reminds us all that we would not be anything without each other.” Page 3B The Behrend Beacon
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