Bulldogs Pick Up Four Wins at Rain Shortened Asics Winthrop Invitational
March 28, 2009 | Track & Field
Rock Hill, S.C. – Both the Gardner-Webb men's and women's track and field teams battled heavy rain and inclement weather all weekend, but still managed to pick up four individual wins over the rain shortened two-day Asics Winthrop Invitational meet.
Senior Kelly Bridges, freshman Gwennetta Jones, junior Paul Steinke
and red-shirt freshman Christoph Hutschalik all picked up
first-place finishes for the event, while a number of other
Bulldogs had strong performances in the falling rain this
weekend.
On the women's side, Bridges took first-place overall in the pole
vault event, clearing the bar at 3.35 meters. Jones picked up a
first-place finish in the shot put, turning in a throw of 12.71
meters on Friday afternoon.
Seniors Beth Long and Bree Tharpe both finished in third-place
overall in their respective events. Long took third-place in the
800 meter run, crossing the finish line with a time of 2:15.70, a
new personal best. Tharpe finished third in the 3000 meter
steeplechase event, finishing with a time of 12:02.22.
Fellow senior Caryn Daane had two top-10 showings on Friday, as
Daane took fourth-place overall in shot put event with a toss of
12.07 meters and finished ninth-place in the women's hammer throw
event with a throw of 38.27 meters.
In the javelin throw, senior Sarah Wyszynski and freshman Caroline
Arledge both picked up top-10 finishes, as Wyszynski finished in
fourth-place with a throw of 35.27 meters, while Arledge took
sixth-place overall with her throw of 30.87 meters.
In the 5000 meter run, the Bulldogs set three personal bests on
Friday highlighted by sophomore Laura Scott's time of 18:44.16.
Scott's time was not only a personal best, but was good enough to
place her in fourth-place overall for the event. Red-shirt junior
Allye Littrell (20:39.10) and sophomore Lia Hudak (21:25.44) both
set personal bests in the 5000 meter run on Friday, while senior
Carrie Minard finished 10th overall with her time of 19:10.87.
Freshmen Sarah Herd and Ann Marie Howell took sixth and seventh,
respectively in the women's high jump event, as Herd tied her
personal best with a height of 1.55 meters, finishing just ahead of
Howell who cleared the bar at 1.50 meters. Howell also picked up a
fifth-place finish in the women's pole vault, clearing the bar at
3.05 meters.
Senior Victoria Argus had three top-10 finishes over the weekend,
taking fifth-place in the 100 meter hurdles (15.03) and ninth in
both the long jump (4.95 meters) and the shot put (11.06
meters).
Other notable Bulldog performances at the Asics Winthrop
Invitational include junior Kayla Morgan finishing seventh in the
100 meter hurdles with a time of 16.04, junior Brieanna Thompson
taking 10th-place in the discus throw with a toss of 33.72 meters
and freshman Elisabeth Sawyer setting a new personal best in the
1500 meter run with her time of 5:17.77.
Hutschalik led the way for the Bulldogs on the men's side, as the
redshirt-freshman thrower took first-place and set a both a new GWU
school and personal record in the hammer throw with a long throw of
56.49 meters. Hutschalik's first-place toss was just short of the
regional qualifying distance.
GWU hurdler and sprinter Paul Steinke picked up a win in the 400
meter hurdles, as the junior crossed the finish line with a time of
52.89, a new personal best. Steinke also set a new personal best in
the 200 meter dash preliminaries, turning in a time of 22.79.
Sophomore Jason Wentzel picked up a second-place finish in the 800
meter run on Saturday, crossing the line with a time of 1:53.57, a
new personal best. Fellow teammate redshirt-junior Charlie Steinke
took fifth-place in the 800 meter run event, finishing with a time
of 1:58.39.
Senior Jake Didion picked up two second-place finishes over the
weekend, as he finished second in the long jump with a leap of 7.14
meters and second in the triple jump with a distance of 14.45
meters.
In the 5000 meter run, freshman Nick Kelly finished fourth-place
overall with a time of 15:52.51, while in the men's shot put event,
fellow freshman Mike McPherson took ninth with a throw of 13.49
meters.
Other strong performances for the Bulldogs over the weekend
included sophomore Adam Reed taking fifth in the pole vault,
clearing the bar at 4.40 meters. Freshman Daniel Mobley also had a
strong showing in the pole vault event, setting a new personal
record with a height of 4.25 meters, which placed him in a tie for
sixth-place overall.
Sophomore Jonathan Rucker qualified for the 110 meter hurdle finals
on Friday with a sixth-place finish in the preliminaries with his
time of 15.22, but did not run in the finals on Saturday
morning.
Both the men's and women's track and field teams will compete again
on April 3-4, as Gardner-Webb will participate in both the Duke
Invitational in Durham, N.C. and in the Texas Relays in Austin,
Texas.
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