St. Francis Results  |  WVU Results

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's track and field team recorded 21 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference automatic qualifying marks and three NCAA provisional qualifying marks across two different competitions in two different states Saturday.
 
The Rock sent most of the team to St. Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, while a group of distance runners went to West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.
 
All three NCAA marks came in the throwing events at St. Francis, led by Dalton Anderson and John Eakin. Anderson won the javelin with a career-best effort of 66.85 meters, while Eakin took second in the shot put with a mark of 17.28 meters, just under his career-best of 17.43 meters. Anderson's effort vaults him all the way up to No. 5 among Division II javelin throwers this spring.
 
While the NCAA marks came in the throws Saturday, freshman standout AJ Virata was lighting it up all around the facility. He won all three events he entered Saturday, taking the top spot in the 100-meter dash in 10.97 seconds, winning the 200-meter dash in 21.79 seconds and claiming the victory in the high jump with a clearance of 1.95 meters. Robert Kozares also hit the PSAC mark in the high jump with a fifth place finish at 1.85 meters.
 
Dylan Close also hit the NCAA standard in the javelin to take fourth with a toss of 60.77 meters, while Eakin was joined by Joshua Gose and Eric Schulz in hitting at least the PSAC standard in the shot put. Gose took fourth at 16.31 meters with Schulz placing fifth at 15.20 meters.
 
SRU got a pair of PSAC marks in the hammer with Joshua VanDeMark placing fifth at 47.12 meters and Brandon McCray finishing seventh at 46.24 meters to give The Rock seven total PSAC marks in the throws.
 
Taye Lynch took third in the triple jump with a leap of 13.96 meters and Zack Duda was seventh at 13.20 meters to give The Rock two PSAC marks in the triple jump. Dan Hyatt closed the PSAC efforts in the field with a clearance of 4.55 meters to place fourth in the pole vault.
 
Brenden Lewis and Jason Goodman took third and fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.26 and 15.27 seconds and Cade Adams clocked a season-best effort of 56.86 seconds to place second in the 400-meter hurdles with a PSAC mark.
 
Slippery Rock also got four PSAC marks at the West Virginia meet from its distance runners. Shannon Dooley took third in the 800-meter run in 1:56.44 and Devon Navaroli was third in the 1,500-meter run in 4:00.37 to lead the mid-distance runners. Troy Hart and Ethan Brentham both hit the standard in the 5,000-meter run with Hart placing third in 15:29.79 and Brentham finishing fourth in 15:31.23.
 
Slippery Rock will bring the team back together to compete in the same state next weekend when it travels to Lock Haven University Friday and Saturday for the LHU Qualifier. That will serve as the final tune-up and qualifying chance before the PSAC Championships May 12-14 at Millersville University.
 
A look at the top performances across the three meets Saturday can be found below.
 
ST. FRANCIS TOP 10 AND QUALIFIERS
100-Meter Dash
1. AJ Virata – 10.98 (PSAC auto)
4. Jonathan Marfisi – 11.26
5. Parker Reed – 11.33
 
200-Meter Dash
1. AJ Virata – 21.79 (PSAC auto)
3. Parker Reed – 22.43
6. Jonathan Marfisi – 22.64
10. Marcus Pruy – 23.39
 
400-Meter Dash
7. Marcus Pruy – 51.25
9. Ryan Locktosh – 52.61
 
110-Meter Hurdles
3. Brenden Lewis – 15.26 (PSAC auto)
4. Jason Goodman – 15.27 (PSAC auto)
 
400-Meter Hurdles
2. Cade Adams – 56.86 (PSAC auto)
8. Cade Gratzmiller – 59.80
 
High Jump
1. AJ Virata – 1.95m (PSAC auto)
5. Robert Kozares – 1.85m (PSAC auto)
8. Dalton Anderson – 1.80m
9. James Amodei – 1.65m
 
Pole Vault
4. Dan Hyatt – 4.55m (PSAC auto)
 
Long Jump
4. Gavin Thomas – 6.59m
5. Mason Reed – 6.35m
 
Triple Jump
3. Taye Lynch – 13.96m (PSAC auto)
7. Zack Duda – 13.20m (PSAC auto)
 
Shot Put
2. John Eakin – 17.28m (NCAA provisional)
4. Joshua Gose – 16.31m (PSAC auto)
5. Eric Schulz – 15.20m (PSAC auto)
 
Discus
6. Eric Schulz – 41.31m
7. Joshua Gose – 41.24m
 
Hammer
5. Joshua VanDeMark – 47.12m (PSAC auto)
7. Brandon McCray – 46.24m (PSAC auto)
 
Javelin
1. Dalton Anderson – 66.85m (NCAA provisional)
4. Dylan Close – 60.77m (NCAA provisional)
8. James Amodei – 48.07m
9. Josh Kingerski – 47.57m
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MOUNTAINEER TWILGHT TOP 10 AND QUALIFIERS
800-Meter Run
3. Shannon Dooley – 1:56.44 (PSAC auto)
5. Ryan Corbitt – 1:58.34
8. Andrew Boyle – 2:06.72
 
1,500-Meter Run
3. Devon Navaroli – 4:00.37 (PSAC auto)
4. Nathan Eadie – 4:30.81
 
5,000-Meter Run
3. Troy Hart – 15:29.79 (PSAC auto)
4. Ethan Brentham – 15:31.23 (PSAC auto)
7. Tucker Davis – 15:56.11
10. Noah Johnson – 16:45.33
 


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