Outdoor season begins with Sea Gulls winning 17 events at SU Opener
SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University track and field teams could not have asked for better weather as they officially kicked-off the 2009 outdoor season. The Sea Gulls hosted their annual SU Opener, the only home meet of the season, on a 70 degree Saturday afternoon in early March. The meet consisted of six teams which included Capital Athletic Conference foes Hood College and Gallaudet University. The other three teams to compete were Gloucester County College, Shenandoah University and SUNY Oswego.
On the men's side the Sea Gulls captured 297 points to win the annual event. Freshman Jay Drenner paced the first-place finishes for the Sea Gulls as he collected three on the afternoon in the shot put, discus throw and the hammer throw. Drenner launched the shot put 42 feet, one inch, tossed the discus 115 feet, seven inches and chucked the hammer 127 feet, six inches.
Junior Travis Boccher dominated the distance events for the Sea Gulls as he won both the 1,500-meter run (4:11.5 minutes) and the 5,000 meter-run (16:18.1 minutes). Salisbury swept the 5,000-meter run as senior James Ladd (16:21.4 minutes) took second place and freshman John Fitzgerald (16:23.5 minutes) finished in third. Junior Bill Nastasiak (9:57.4 minutes) took first place in 3,000-meter steeplechase.
After sitting out of the indoor season, two-time All-American junior Cory Beebe finally hit the track for the first time as a Sea Gull and competed very well in the hurdles. Beebe looked impressive in his debut as he cruised to first-place finishes in the 110-meter (15.04 seconds) and 400-meter hurdles (53:20 seconds). Beebe set a new school record with his time in the 400-meter hurdles and also provisionally qualified for the NCAA outdoor championships.
Salisbury finished first and second in the 200-meter dash as junior Wayne Turner (22.92 seconds)won the event and freshman Paul Moore (23.44 seconds) was right on his heels in second. Moore also ran a strong race in the 400-meter dash as he flew by the competition to win the event.
The Sea Gulls took first place in two of the three jumping events as sophomore Mike O'Brien cleared five feet, 11.5 inches in the high jump and sophomore Brandon Lane soared 44 feet, 11 inches to claim the top spot in the triple jump.
The final first-place finish for the men came in the 4x400 meter relay (3:32.3 minutes) as the team of junior Mike Marfut, sophomore Matt Miller, Moore and senior Quentin Briscoe edged out the team from SUNY Oswego.
The Salisbury women took home top honors as well finishing with 203 points. Senior Jenn Bulger highlighted the women's first-place finishes as she captured the top spot in the 400-meter hurdles as well as the high jump (four feet, 10 inches).
Sophomore Masha Berge paced herself well in the 5,000-meter run (19:42 minutes) to claim first place. Salisbury also took second and third place in the event as sophomore Liz Tollett (20:21 minutes) and freshman Emily Powell (20:33 minutes) crossed the finish-line after Berge.
The team of freshmen Lauren Foreman and Becca Stinner, Tollett and Bulger breezed by the other teams in the 4x400 meter relay (4:29.2 minutes) to claim the final first-place finish for the women.
Salisbury's outdoor season will take a break next week as several Sea Gulls prepare for the indoor track and field national championships on March 13-14. The outdoor season will resume on March 20 as the Sea Gulls travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to compete in the two-day Wake Forest Open.
