Jan. 29, 2011
WASHINGTON - Three Hoyas turned in first-place performances today at the 2011 Penn State National Invitational held at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in University Park, Pa. Toby Ulm, All-American Rachel Schneider and Billy Ledder all turned in first-place performances on the final day of the two-day meet.
Ulm won the men's 500-meter dash invitational with a time of 1:03.40, enough to get to the postseason in the BIG EAST and IC4A Championships. Ulm anchored the men's 4x400-meter relay team with Theon O'Connor, Austin Perron and Hansel Akers - the foursome ran a 3:16.31, enough for eighth place and to qualify for the IC4A Championships.
Billy Ledder won the men's 1,000-meter run invitational, timing in at 2:26.00 followed by Bobby Peavey in second (2:26.29) and Brian Hencke in fourth (2:26.83) - all were BE and IC4A qualifying times.
All-American Rachel Schneider took first in the women's 1,000-meter run invitational with her time of 2:45.51 and Lauren Borduin took fourth place with a time of 2:49.36 in the event - both were BE and ECAC qualifying times. Schneider and Borduin then teamed up with Emily Menges and Becca DeLoache to take second place in the women's 4x800-meter relay with an ECAC-qualifying 8:53.36.
The men's middle distance / distance runners competed well with a trio of Hoyas in both the men's mile invitational and the men's 3,000-meter run invitational. Dan Leyh led the trio in the men's mile with a time of 4:11.31 in ninth followed by Brian Manning in 15th (4:12.92) and Max Darrah in 17th (4:14.57). Dylan Sorensen led the trio in the 3,000-meter run with a third-place time of 8:15.32 followed by Ben Furcht in fourth (8:16.52) and TC Lumbar in fifth (8:17.93). All were BE and IC4A qualifying times.
All-American Emily Jones finished fourth in the women's 3,000-meter run invitational (9:31.26) while Amanda Kimbers followed up her successful Friday with a sixth-place performance (24.00) in the women's 200-meter dash invitational. Katie McCafferty turned in a fourth-place performance in the women's mile invitational with a time of 4:46.78 - the three qualified for both the BE and ECAC Championships in their respective events.
In the women's 800-meter run invitational Chelsea Cox took seventh (2:09.38) while DeLoache took ninth (2:11.08) - both qualified for the BE and ECAC Championships. On the men's side, O'Connor timed in at 1:51.24, enough for fifth place and a trip to the BE and IC4A Championships.
Continuing her athletic success from the fall with the women's soccer team, Emily Menges ran a 1:14.27 in the women's 500-meter dash invitational to qualify for both the BE and ECAC Championships. London Finley competed in the women's 400-meter dash invitational, timing in at 55.46 - good enough for both postseason championships.
In the unseeded women's 400-meter dash, Deidra Sanders ran a 56.41 for sixth place while Chela Green ran a 57.29 for 17th place. Perron competed in the open men's 400-meter dash, taking sixth place (48.67) while Matthew Howard took fifth in the men's open mile with a time of 4:16.29. Perron's time was enough for the BE and IC4A Championships while Howard earned a trip to the BIG EAST Championships. Also earning a berth at the BIG EAST Championships are Sean Suber and Christian Tobias in the men's 200-meter dash. Competing in the open event, Suber timed in at 22.51 while Tobias recorded a 22.52.
The Hoyas will split sites next weekend competing in both the Giegengack Invitational (New Haven, Conn.) and the New Balance Invitational (New York, N.Y.)
