SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (May 15) – Members of the Waynesburg University men’s and women’s track teams made history on Friday at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships, which were held at Springfield (Mass.) College.
After finding themselves in first place following the first day of competition on Thursday, the Yellow Jacket women finished the two-day event in seventh place, which was the highest finish in school history for men or women. All told, 56 different schools competed in the women’s ranks.
The lady Jackets were led by the trio of freshman Marybeth Rocco, sophomore Elisha Jones and senior Amanda Staudt, who finished 1-2-3 in the javelin on day one. Senior distance runner Megan Grover also had a big day on Thursday by finishing third in the 10,000-meter run.
On the men’s side, senior thrower Willy Herrington made a good final impression on the ECAC field by breaking the school record in the discus. His throw of 44.98 meters (147 feet, 7 inches) gave him a sixth-place finish in the event.
Sophomore hurdler Trale Merz also competed for Waynesburg in the 400-meter hurdles. The Jacket men finished in 50th place out of 56 squads. For a complete look at all the results from the ECAC Championships, click here.
The final event on the Waynesburg track and field calendar is the NCAA Division III Championships, which will be held from May 21-23. Currently, five Yellow Jacket women are possibilities to compete in the event.
Final word on who gets to go to the 2009 Outdoor Championships at Marietta College will be released soon.