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MEADVILLE, Pa. – Slippery Rock University senior thrower JJ Ollio broke a 35-year program record in the discus throw and improved his national marks in both the discus and the shot put to lead The Rock track and field teams at the Allegheny College Gator Invitational Friday.
 
Ollio won the discus with an NCAA provisional mark of 52.81 meters, topping the former SRU record of 51.99m that was set by Gary Aldrich in 1983. That mark was more than a full meter better than Ollio's previous career-best and moves him up to 18th on the national list in Division II, increasing his probability of qualifying for his first National Championship appearance. Aldrich, a collegiate coach at Carnegie Mellon University, was in attendance to see his record broken Friday night.
 
Ollio also improved on his career-best in the shot put with a second place finish and a mark of 17.30 meters, moving up to 19th on the national list. If the season ended at the time of this story, Ollio would qualify in both events for the national meet. More competitions are scheduled over the rest of the weekend before the championship fields will be announced Tuesday.
 
Ollio was joined in reaching the NCAA mark in the shot put by Anderson Novalin, who upped his season-best to 17.02 meters with a third place finish Friday night, moving him up to 24th on the national list and putting him on the bubble to earn a spot into the national field.
 
The Rock women also recorded one NCAA mark Friday night when Courtney McQuaide won the pole vault with a clearance of 3.77 meters, well below her season-best of 4.04 meters, which currently ranks fourth in the nation.
 
In addition to the NCAA marks recorded Friday night, SRU also picked up a win in the men's 200-meter dash from James Chandler in 22.54 seconds, a runner-up finish in the men's pole vault by Andrew Koksal with a clearance of 4.64 meters and a fourth place finish in the discus by Novalin at 45.81 meters. The women got a fourth place finish from Katie Teed in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:06.95 and Kelci Yale finished sixth in the hammer throw with a mark of 42.90 meters.
 
Slippery Rock's athletes with NCAA marks will now wait until Tuesday to find out if they have been accepted to compete in the national meet May 24-26 in Charlotte, North Carolina, while the rest of the team's season is now complete.
 

TOP PERFORMANCES – GATOR INVITATIONAL
 
MEN
200-Meter Dash
1. James Chandler – 22.54
 
High Jump
5. Josiah Davis – 1.93m
 
Pole Vault
2. Andrew Koksal – 4.64m
6. David Duffey – 4.16m
 
Shot Put
2. JJ Ollio – 17.30m (NCAA provisional)
3. Anderson Novalin – 17.02m (NCAA provisional)
 
Discus
1. JJ Ollio – 52.81m (NCAA provisional, SRU record)
4. Anderson Novalin – 45.81m
 
 
WOMEN
400-Meter Hurdles
4. Katie Teed – 1:06.95
 
Pole Vault
1. Courtney McQuaide – 3.77m (NCAA provisional)
 
Hammer
6. Kelci Yale – 42.90m
7. Kati Palski – 38.84m
 

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