Track and field teams sweep Salisbury University Spring Classic
SALISBURY, Md. - It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon on the Eastern Shore as the Salisbury University track and field team welcomed six teams to its home turf to compete in the Salisbury University Spring Classic. The results were as beautiful as the weather, as several Sea Gulls opened up their outdoor seasons with first-place finishes and one Salisbury athlete qualified provisionally for the NCAA championships.
Freshman Matt McMurdo (Chalfont, Pa.) took home the performance of the day, placing first in the men's javelin throw with a toss of 58.39 meters. That distance was good enough to qualify McMurdo provisionally for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track Championships. His success didn't stop there, though, as McMurdo also took home the top spot in the shot put with a throw of 13.63 meters. Salisbury took home first place in nearly every field event, sweeping the throws: men's and women's hammer throw, men's and women's javelin throw, men's and women's shot put and men's and women's discus were all won by Sea Gull athletes. In all, Salisbury captured 14 first-place finishes.
Freshman Chelsea Tavik (Glen Burnie, Md.) won two events. She took the women's javelin with a distance of 36.40 meters. She also broke the school record, which had stood since 1981, in the shot put with a distance of 39' 1 3/4".
On the track, sophomore Anna Steinman (Piscataway, N.J.) finished first in the 5,000-meter run, posting a time of 18:54.5. Her time was a full 15 seconds faster than the second-place finished. The men's team also saw a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run, as sophomore Trent Seawell (Forest Hill, Md.) clocked in at 16:02.9.
When all the points were tallied up, both teams won the meet; the women's team scored 211 points, beating second-place Penn State-Behrend by over 100 points, while the men's team tallied up 201.5 points on the day.
The Sea Gulls will have nearly two weeks off from competition before they travel to Winston Salem, N.C., to participate in the Wake Forest Invitational at Wake Forest University on March 19-20.
First-place
finishers for SU
Men's Javelin - Matt McMurdo - 58.39 meters (NCAA
provisional qualifying mark)
Women's Javelin - Chelsea Tavik - 36.40 meters
Men's Hammer - Jay Drenner - 38.47 meters
Women's Hammer - Jennifer Houghton - 37.82 meters
Men's Shot Put - Matt McMurdo - 13.63 meters
Women's Shot Put - Chelsea Tavik - 11.93 meters
Men's Discus - Zach Means - 38.31 meters
Women's Discus - Janay Johnson - 33.13 meters
Men's High Jump - Brandon Lane - 6' 2"
Women's 400 Meters - Amy Taylor - 1:04.31
Women's 100 Meters - Amanda Zyzak - 12.45
Women's 800 Meters - Claire Lawrence - 2:30.0
Women's 5000 Meters - Anna Steinman - 18:54.5
Men's 5000 Meters - Trent Seawell - 16:02.9
Team Scores
Women
Salisbury University - 211
Penn State - Behrend - 107
Hood College - 85
Shenandoah University - 72
Gallaudet University - 21
Gloucester County College - 14
West Virginia Wesleyan - 14
Slippery Rock University - 6
Men
Salisbury University - 201.5
Penn State - Behrend - 143.33
Shenandoah University - 83.33
Gloucester Count College - 57.83
Hood College - 43
Gallaudet University - 42
Middlesex CC - 12
