Friday, March 25, 2005
Track teams gear up for outdoor
season,
By Stephen Wingerter
and Justin Bootes
staff writers
The men's and women's track team
kicks off its ninth season this Saturday.
The meet will be against Clarion and
hosted there as well. Head Coach Dave
Cooper is excited about this new season
and has high hopes for the athletes.
"Our focus will be to get as many
ECAC qualifying performances as pos
sible. We had six women at indoors and
we'd like to have as many outdoors,"
said Cooper.
On the women's side, there are many
potential records to be broken in most
of the events. Both the 110 high hur
dles and the 400 intermediate hurdles
records should fall. It isn't a question
of if, but how soon, how often, and who
will hold the record when the season is
Junir Nikki Mineweaser currently
holds the 110 record but sophomore
Becky Gonzalez had the fastest time in
the indoor 55 hurdles and could beat
Mineweaser's time.
Another record expected to fall is the
400 intermediate. However,
Mineweaser Gonzalez and sophomore
Erica Smith are all capable of claiming
Baseball drops three in Kentucky
After a three game stint in Owensboro, Kentucky, the
Lions baseball team arrived with experience, determination
and a list of goals to achieve when AMCC league play
starts. Against the Bearcats of Brescia, the blue and white
dropped three games after poor offensive showings.
"We have not hit our stride offensively," Head Coach
Paul Benim said, "We have capable hitters, we just haven't
been consistent."
In the three game series, Behrend fell to Brescia 7-4, 1-
0, and 6-3. While the defense held the opposition to only
21 hits throughout the series, the Lion sluggers only came
through with 11. After such a performance, the top priori
ty that needs addressed before the season begins is, indeed,
the offense.
The first game of the series saw Brescia displaying an
obvious offensive advantage. Over the first four innings,
the Bearcats scattered 7 runs with little resistance from the
blue and white. Ray Devaul, who was nearly
flawless in his first two starts, gave up three
earned runs (five total) on six hits, while strik
ing out only three.
Sophomores Mike Stetz, second baseman,
and designated hitter Tim Nebel led the offense.
Both reached base twice on singles. Singles
were the only hits managed as the Lions failed
to hit for extra bases. However, Behrend man
aged to put four runs up on the board with 5 hits
in the first game of the series.
An offensive struggle of a pitchers' dual
could be the argument in the case of the second
game. The 0-0 deadlock was finally broken in
the bottom half of the sixth inning as Bearcat
catcher Tanner Hoel drove in the games only
run. Junior pitcher Chris McCartney displayed
a brilliant performance as he let up only one run
on four hits in 5.1 innings of work. The lone hit
for the blue and white came from junior center
fielder Shane Elzer.
"McCartney pitched good enough to win.
Offensively, we did not scratch for a couple,"
said Benim. "Baseball is a game created to
make you fail. Statistics run wild and even
when you're a good hitter, it may be a bad fig
ure. We will win a 1-0 game later this season
and be on the flip side. That's the way the game
The final game of the series saw Behrend
fight their way to a 3-2 lead, only to find them
selves bitten by the "Bug of the Bullpen."
Senior pitchers Jason Shaffer and Matt
Szymanski each threw for three innings while
giving up two runs between them. In the bot
tom of the sixth inning, Brescia fought back to
tie the game up and finished with three runs in
extra innings to end a 6-3 come-from-behind
victory.
By Chris LaFuria
staff writer
head to Clarion Invitational
this record
Freshman Leisl Soergel shows poten
tial by rewriting the 800 meter record
and possibly the 400 meter but she has
to beat out senior Claire Manelick to do
Coming from the indoor season, jun
ior Staci Banaszek holds all of the
indoor jump records as well as the high
jump outdoor. It is a matter of adding
inches to her long and triple jump
records to claim the outdoor record.
Cooper looks at the varying combina
tions of athletes and sees promising
records in the future. The 4 x 400
record is held currently held by
Mineweaser, Manelick and senior
Marlena McNutt but sees this record as
being broken. Soergel, Mineweaser and
Manelick when joined by sophomore
Leslie Gentile also show potential for
setting the 4 x 800.
Currently the women's side of the
track team is facing a shortage of ath
letes. With 13 team members, the only
event with adequate numbers is the hur
dles.
"Our biggest problem is fielding
throwers. We have but one, Samantha
Baldensperger, who hopes to improve
the javelin record, but we field no one
in the shot, discus, or hammer throw,"
Stetz, Elzer, Nebel and juniors Eddie George and Greg
Samson each recorded hits, with Nebel notching two.
However, the deciding factor in this game was that
Behrend left 11 men on base while the Bearcats left only
four. If the blue and white could drive in more runs and
gain more support for their pitchers, some of these scores
may have been reversed.
The next game for the blue and white is against La
Roche, who is considered one of the top contenders for the
AMCC title.
"La Roche finished second in the league last season and,
I believe, they are good enough to win the league this sea
son," said Benim. "I expect our team to step up and per
form. It is early in conference play, anything can happen."
Hopefully, Behrend will play their first home game of
the season on April 2 against Pitt-Greensburg. Pitt-
Greensburg is currently 4-6 and have not yet played a con
ference game.
Behrend fell twice to Pitt-Greensberg last season, 6-11
and 0-2.
Junior Chris McCartney allowed only one run on four hits over 5.1
inning of work against Brescia this past weekend in Kentucky.
CA
:....)
said Cooper."
For the men, high expectations
have been the key to the success of
the team. The indoor squad broke six
school records this year.
Senior Isiah Meek broke the 55
meter hurdles with a time of 7.74."
Junior Harry Balwick took home the
mile run record with a time of 4:38.90
and sophomore Brad Ruffo broke the
5000 meter run with a time of
16:11.81.
The individual events weren't the
only events improved upon this sea
son. The 4x160 team with a time of
1:16.12 took the school record. The
4x 800 relay team ran a time of
8:05.07 broke the previous record.
In the field area, Shane Rock
jumped 44' 2.75" In the triple jump to
capture the school record.
"Our plan from the start is to work
through the indoor season with a
slight taper before ECAC's, and then
build upon that in the outdoor sea
son," said Cooper "We have the tal
ent to send multiple athletes to both
championship meets. Last season
was the best in the program's history,
with both teams earning their highest
finish at ECACs, and I expect our
teams to be even stronger this year.
c't
;....)
Senior hurdler Isiah Meek will work to reset the record hooks this sea
son while qualifying for ECAC's and NCAA's.
Senior Spotlight
Donnie Hackworth
Behrend Beacon: What are your plans for after graduation'?
Donnie Hackworth: I intend to start studying hiomechanics/robotics and
their possible application in the field of artificial prosthesis.
Kara Daniel: I will be moving to Ohio to complete a 10 month Americorps
program called City Year.
BB: What will you miss most about Behrend?
DH: It would have to be my friends and all of the unforgettable experiences
here, I've met so many awsome people.
KD: I will miss my friend and all the good times we're had.
BB: What is your favorite memory from your sport?
DH: Qualifing for Nationals at lUP last year. That day I set a new school
record and got a runaways clap by Slippery Rock.
KD: Traveling to Florida with the team this spring break.
BB: What is your funniest or most embarassing moment?
DH: About two years ago at CMU it was a really windy day and I missed the
mat but managed to land on a full bottle of Aquafina. The thing exploded and
got me and couple other people soaked. The crowd had a good laugh.
KD: "What are you doing!?"
merioian
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6aWf East Cafiege Avenue
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The Behrend Beacon I
Kara Daniel
DOWNTOWN
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