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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's track and field team recorded 31 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference qualifying marks, one NCAA provisional mark and seven event wins at the John Papa Invitational hosted at SRU's William Lennox Track Thursday.
 
The meet featured 10 college teams and just shy of 500 total student-athletes for what was the second of four home meets this spring for Slippery Rock.
 
The highlight of the day came in the pole vault, where Kendall Grossman won the competition with a career-best clearance of 3.84 meters to reach the NCAA provisional standard. Her jump ranks 22nd among all athletes in Division II this season and led The Rock to four top five finishes with PSAC marks in the event. Hanna Zeiler was fourth with a mark of 3.44 meters, while Allie Taylor and Sarah Schneider tied for fifth with the same 3.44-meter effort.
 
Slippery Rock picked up one more win in the field with Tiffany Jolayemi claiming the top spot in the hammer throw to lead a 1-2 sweep for SRU. She took the win with a toss of 49.53 meters with Rachel Hutchinson finishing second with a throw of 46.80 meters.
 
The Rock won both relay races on the track, kicking the day off with a win in the 4x100-meter relay with Samantha Gilbert, Haley Morgan, Regan Johnson and Thai-Lin Pierce posting a time of 47.58 seconds. SRU then closed the day with a 1-2 finish in the 4x400-meter relay with the top spot going to a team of Gilbert, Lorna Speigle, Dani MacBeth and Madison Olsen.
 
The relay wins capped an overall strong day for Gilbert, who also clocked a career-best effort in the 100-meter dash when she placed second with a time of 11.98 seconds. It marked her first career race under the 12-second barrier. Asia Murray also hit the PSAC mark in fifth in 12.43 seconds, as did Johnson in sixth in 12.53 seconds. Amaya Robinson gave SRU four PSAC marks in the 100m with her time of 12.60 seconds in the prelims. Pierce and Morgan closed out the top efforts for the sprinters with a pair of PSAC marks in the 200-meter dash with Pierce placing second in 25.73 seconds and Morgan finishing fifth in 26.15 seconds.
 
Slippery Rock also claimed wins in both hurdle races Thursday with Chaley Younkin winning the 100-meter hurdles in a photo finish and Rachel Veneziano winning the 400-meter hurdles. Younkin ran a time of 14.80 seconds in the prelims and backed that up with a 14.84-second time to win the finals. Chalondra Clarke also hit the PSAC standard in the prelims with a time of 15.30 seconds. Veneziano pulled away from the field to win the 400m hurdles in 1:04.84.
 
The final PSAC efforts on the track all came in the 10,000-meter run to close out the evening under the lights. Slippery Rock had six women come home under the PSAC standard, led by Marianne Abdalah in first place in 39:30.85. Ruthie Hughes and Katie Plassio ran 40:19 and Steph Keelon clocked a time of 40:22. Anna Igims and Chelsea Hunt both ran 40:27 to all comfortably finish under the PSAC standard of 41:00.
 
Back in the field, Slippery Rock picked up five PSAC marks in the horizontal jumps and Paige Griffith hit the standard in the high jump with a second place finish and a clearance of 1.60 meters. Aleks Brozeski led the way in the triple jump in second place with a leap of 11.67 meters. Alice Bogia followed in third with a mark of 11.56 meters and Abby Williamson was fourth with a leap of 11.10 meters. Williamson was also fourth in the long jump with a leap of 5.45 meters, while Gilbert was sixth with a leap of 5.32 meters to round out her busy day.
 
Slippery Rock closed out the day with four more PSAC marks in the throws, including three in the javelin. Skylar Sherry took second with a toss of 37.55 meters with Olivia Heckman finishing fourth at 36.52 meters and Isabella Bartoletti finishing fifth with a throw of 36.47 meters. Heckman also hit the conference standard in the shot put with a third place finish and a mark of 12.47 meters.
 
A look at all of SRU's top five finishes and qualifying marks from Thursday can be found below. For full results, click HERE.
 
Slippery Rock will have a rare weekend off this weekend before returning to action next Saturday, April 29, at West Virginia University's WVU Invite.
 
TOP FIVE AND QUALIFYING MARKS – JOHN PAPA INVITATIONAL
 
100-METER DASH
2. Samantha Gilbert – 11.98 (PSAC auto)
5. Asia Murray – 12.43 (PSAC auto)
6. Regan Johnson – 12.53 (PSAC auto)
7. Amaya Robinson – 12.60 in prelims (PSAC auto)
 
200-METER DASH
2. Thai-Lin Pierce – 25.73 (PSAC auto)
5. Haley Morgan – 26.15 (PSAC auto)
 
800-METER RUN
5. Allison Rennette – 2:26.37
 
10,000-METER RUN
1. Marianne Abdalah – 39:30.85 (PSAC auto)
2. Ruthie Hughes – 40:19.33 (PSAC auto)
3. Katie Plassio – 40:19.66 (PSAC auto)
4. Steph Keelon – 40:22.11 (PSAC auto)
5. Anna Igims – 40:27.40 (PSAC auto)
6. Chelsea Hunt – 40:27.60 (PSAC auto)
 
100-METER HURDLES
1. Chaley Younkin – 14.84 (14.80 in prelims) (PSAC auto)
7. Chalondra Clarke – 15.30 in prelims (PSAC auto)
 
400-METER HURDLES
1. Rachel Veneziano – 1:04.84 (PSAC auto)
 
3,000-METER STEEPLECHASE
2. Jennifer Cichra – 12:33.39
3. Morgan Dennison – 13:00.11
 
4x100-METER RELAY – 47.58
1. Samantha Gilbert, Haley Morgan, Regan Johnson, Thai-Lin Pierce
 
4x400-METER RELAY – 4:00.43
1. Samantha Gilbert, Lorna Speigle, Dani MacBeth, Madison Olsen
 
HIGH JUMP
2. Paige Griffith – 1.60m (PSAC auto)
3. Madelyn Miller – 1.50m
5. Amera Coleman – 1.50m
 
POLE VAULT
1. Kendall Grossman – 3.84m (NCAA provisional)
4. Hanna Zeiler – 3.44m (PSAC auto)
5. Allie Taylor – 3.44m (PSAC auto)
5. Sarah Schneider – 3.44m (PSAC auto)
 
LONG JUMP
4. Abby Williamson – 5.45m (PSAC auto)
6. Samantha Gilbert – 5.32m (PSAC auto)
 
TRIPLE JUMP
2. Aleks Brozeski – 11.67m (PSAC auto)
3. Alice Bogia – 11.56m (PSAC auto)
4. Abby Williamson – 11.10m (PSAC auto)
5. Katie Book – 10.52m
 
SHOT PUT
3. Olivia Heckman – 12.47m (PSAC auto)
 
HAMMER
1. Tiffany Jolayemi – 49.53m (PSAC auto)
2. Rachel Hutchinson – 46.80m (PSAC auto)
 
JAVELIN
2. Skylar Sherry – 37.55m (PSAC auto)
4. Olivia Heckman – 36.52m (PSAC auto)
5. Isabella Bartoletti – 36.47m (PSAC auto)
 
 

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