Women take first at Western Pennsylvania Championship
PITTSBURGH (March 29, 2008) – It would be accurate to say that the Saint Francis University women’s track & field team threw the 2008 Western Pennsylvania Championship meet held at Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday.
That, however, is not to suggest that the meet’s result – a Red Flash championship – was tainted in any way.
Flash throwers captured a combined 18 top-ten places to help SFU rack up its 157 points – a full 56 points better than second-place Robert Morris.
SFU’s most dominant display came in the shot put where Diane Gmiter (Pittsburgh, Pa./Laurel Highlands) [14.07 meters], Lisa Morse (Freedom, N.Y./Pioneer Central) [13.99 meters], Kayla Herron (Cumberland, Ohio/John Glenn) [12.56 meters], Christin Bridge (Unknown) [12.31 meters], Megan Sommers (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) [11.74 meters], and Elise Pearce (Cherry Tree, Pa./Purchase Line) [11.69 meters] swept the event’s first six places.
The same six achieved top ten finishes in the discus throw, with Morse earning the top distance with a heave of 45.27 meters. Gmiter took top honors in the hammer throw with a 49.69-meter hurl, as Herron and Morse took second and third, respectively.
Kara Dinger (New Bethlehem, Pa./Red Bank Valley) was SFU’s top finisher in the javelin with a third-place distance of 37.12 meters.
The Flash runners did their fair share of scoring as well.
Kora Hardy (Salisbury, Md./James M. Benett) [12.87] and Brittni Smallwood (Somerset, N.J./Bishop George) [12.97] took second and third place, respectively, in the 100-meter dash. In the meet’s next event, the 200-meter dash, Smallwood took third with a time of 26.69 seconds and Hardy took fourth finishing the half-lap in 26.78 seconds.
Sarah Harmon (Quantico, Md./James M. Benett) and Jill Diamond (Unknown) joined Smallwood and Hardy to earn a second-place finish in the 4x100 meter relay with a time of 50.24.
Distance runners Shannon Kovak (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville) and Anna Hoffman (Enon Valley, Pa./Mohawk) also shined, earning second and third place in the 1500 meter run. Kovak finished her run in a blistering 4:53.13 and Hoffman was just a skoshe behind at 4:55.81.
The Red Flash return to action on April 4-5 when they travel to Williamsburg, Va. for the William & Mary Colonial Relays.