Final Results

LEWISBURG, Pa. – AJ Virata won the 200-meter dash with an SRU record and then anchored the winning 4x400-meter relay Sunday to lead the Slippery Rock University men's indoor track and field team to a second place finish in the team standings at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships from Bucknell University.
 
The Rock tallied 133 points to record their 12th straight top three finish at the PSAC indoor championships and bring home their sixth runner-up trophy since 2015. Slippery Rock scored points in every event it entered this weekend and only failed to score in one event – the 60-meter dash – because the team did not enter any athletes in the 60m. Shippensburg claimed its 12th straight indoor title with 165 points, edging SRU by 32 points. That margin is significantly smaller than the 2022 championship, where Shippensburg topped SRU by 120 points. The rest of the top five in the team standings were rounded out by East Stroudsburg (73.5 points), Kutztown (58 points) and California (Pa.) (56.83 points).
 
Slippery Rock had an outstanding weekend from start to finish, tallying five event wins and breaking five school records over the two days. Four of those records and three of the titles came Saturday during the opening day of competition when Bryan Dworek won the long jump with an SRU record, Joshua VanDeMark won the weight throw with an SRU record and Dan Hyatt repeated as pole vault champion. Virata also broke the SRU record in the 200-meter dash during the prelims Saturday and the distance medley relay squad broke the SRU record with a runner-up finish.
 
Virata capped an exceptional weekend by winning two PSAC titles and recording a runner-up finish in a third event Sunday on his way to being named the overall "Most Outstanding Athlete" of the championship after voting by the league's coaches. He broke his own record in the 200-meter dash that he set just Saturday when he won the finals in 21.82 seconds. The former SRU record before this weekend was 22.00 seconds, set by DJ Flick in 1999. Virata also placed second in the high jump with a clearance of 1.98 meters after being edged on the third and final attempt at the next height. He closed his weekend by anchoring SRU to the PSAC title in the 4x400-meter relay, where he joined with Kadin Johnson, Shannon Dooley and Bryan Dworek to win the event in 3:22.63.
 
Dworek also capped an exceptional weekend Sunday. In addition to breaking his own record in the long jump and winning that title Saturday, he placed fourth in the 200-meter dash finals in 22.29 seconds and then ran the third leg of the winning 4x400-meter relay.
 
Dooley scored points for SRU with a fourth place finish in the 800-meter run Sunday in 1:54.88 after helping SRU to set the distance medley relay record Saturday and running the second leg of the 4x400-meter relay Sunday. Johnson also scored in the open 400-meter dash with a fifth place finish in 50.49 seconds.
 
SRU got a pair of All-PSAC finishes and 14 points in the shot put Sunday when Joshua Gose and John Eakin finished in second and third, both with NCAA provisional marks. Gose was second with a career-best toss of 17.09 meters and Eakin was third with a toss of 17.00 meters.
 
Slippery Rock also got a runner-up finish and an All-PSAC honor from freshman Matthew Crow, who placed second in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.29 seconds.
 
Devon Navaroli rounded out his busy weekend Sunday by picking up a second All-PSAC honor when he placed second in the 3,000-meter run in 8:43.63. He also anchored SRU to the DMR school record Saturday and scored in the mile Sunday with a fourth place finish in 4:16.32, placing in the top four in all three events he competed in this weekend. Troy Hart joined Hart in scoring in the 3,000-meter run with a sixth place finish in 8:48.85.
 
SRU got five points from its multi-event athletes Sunday with Kyle Adams placing sixth in the heptathlon with 4,454 points and Gavin Thomas finishing seventh with 4,353 points.
 
The final points for the weekend came in the triple jump, where Zack Duda finished seventh with a leap of 13.69 meters.
 
Slippery Rock finished the two-day championship meet with five event titles, five school records and 17 All-PSAC honorees. In addition to the athletic accomplishments, SRU also took home the PSAC Champion Scholar award with Ethan Brentham being recognized Sunday for owning the highest grade point average of all men competing this weekend.
 
A look at all of SRU's results from Sunday's final day of competition can be found below. For a full recap from Saturday's first day of action, click HERE.
 
The Rock will now wait to find out if any of its athletes with NCAA provisional marks are high enough on the national list to be accepted to compete at the Division II National Championships March 10-11 in Virginia Beach. The accepted entries list for the national meet will be announced next week. The rest of the SRU team will now turn its focus to the outdoor season, which begins March 10 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
 
SUNDAY RESULTS
 
60-METER HURDLES FINAL
2. Matthew Crow – 8.29 (8 points, All-PSAC)
 
200-METER DASH FINAL
1. AJ Virata – 21.82 (10 points, All-PSAC, SRU record)
4. Bryan Dworek – 22.29 (5 points)
 
400-METER DASH FINAL
5. Kadin Johnson – 50.49 (4 points)
 
800-METER RUN FINAL
4. Shannon Dooley – 1:54.88 (5 points)
13. Ryan Corbitt – 2:00.10
 
MILE RUN FINAL
4. Devon Navaroli – 4:16.32 (5 points)
 
3,000-METER RUN FINAL
2. Devon Navaroli – 8:43.63 (8 points, All-PSAC)
6. Troy Hart – 8:48.85 (3 points)
24. Ethan Brentham – 9:07.02
 
4x400-METER RELAY – 3:22.63 (10 points, All-PSAC)
1. Kadin Johnson, Shannon Dooley, Bryan Dworek, AJ Virata
 
HIGH JUMP FINALS
2. AJ Virata – 1.98m (8 points, All-PSAC)
14. Robert Kozares – 1.83m
 
TRIPLE JUMP FINALS
7. Zack Duda – 13.69m (2 points)
9. Taye Lynch – 13.63m
14. Ian James – 13.41m
17. Ethan Folmer – 12.42m
 
SHOT PUT FINAL
2. Joshua Gose – 17.09m (8 points, All-PSAC, NCAA provisional)
3. John Eakin – 17.00m (6 points, All-PSAC, NCAA provisional)
10. Seaton Wozniak – 14.50m
13. Joshua Rohland – 13.74m
15. Zach Gose – 12.89m
 
HEPTATHLON FINAL
6. Kyle Adams – 4,454 points (3 points)
7. Gavin Thomas – 4,353 points (2 points)
11. Ethan Folmer – 3,971 points
 
 
 
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