Final Recap of the 2012 Landmark Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Landmark Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships returned to the site of the inaugural Championship, and the team results mirrored those of all the previous events as host Moravian College captured the men’s and women’s team titles on Sunday afternoon.
The competition was tight on the men’s side throughout the second day of the event by Moravian eventually pulled away with 233 points to claim a fifth-consecutive title. Susquehanna University scored 196.50 points to place second for the fifth time in as many years. Juniata College was third with 138 points, while the United States Merchant Marine Academy earned 103.5 points to place fourth. Goucher College collected 60 points in fifth place and The Catholic University of America earned 33 points in sixth position.
The Moravian women won four individual events and both relays on Sunday to help seal its fifth championship with 250 points. The race for the next three spots were very tight with Susquehanna earning 144 in second, Juniata collecting 138 in third and Catholic producing 117 in fourth. Goucher had 98 points in fifth place while USMMA finished in sixth with 19 points.
The individual awards were spread among the institutions with five different teams earning accolades. The Catholic women were doubly honored with Camelia Mayfield earning Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and Kelly Carioto claiming Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. Goucher’s Destiny Phillips was voted the Women’s Rookie of the Year while Moravian Head Coach Jesse Baumann and his staff receiving Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year honors. For the men, Dillon Farrell was voted Men’s Rookie of the Year for his part in helping Moravian claim the title. Susquehanna thrower Ken Schetroma was voted Men’s Field Athlete of the Year and the Susquehanna coaching staff, led by Marty Owens, were picked as Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year. Ceth Parker of Juniata was picked as the Men’s Track Athlete of the Year.
Just as on Saturday, three new meet records were established on the men’s and women’s side, and two of the men records came from winning performances by Moravian. Travis King placed first in the triple jump with a new meet record of 14.02 meters. Steve Ambrosi matched that performance with a time of 1:54.02 which earned him a win and a new meet record. Also earning individual wins for the Greyhounds were Nicco Dalpiaz who ran a time of 15.37 to win the 110-meter hurdles, and Jonathan Heberling who cleared 1.88-meters to place first in the high jump. Moravian also won the 4x100 relay with King and Dalpiaz joining Timothy Layng and Kyle D’Angelo in a winning time of 43.02.
Susquehanna hung with Moravian all day while winning four individual events and one relay. Schetroma earned his individual accolade on the strength of wins in the shot put and hammer throw with marks of 14.02-meters and 46.76-meters respectively. Jared Minori gave the team a win in the javelin with a throw of 62.24-meters and Dan Reinhart was first across the line in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Crusaders also closed the meet with a win as Brendon Albaugh, Chance King, Ben Wilson and Ryan Lopes ran a winning time of 3:23.46 in the 4x400-relay.
Juniata claimed the other meet record on the day as one of their two wins. Ceth Parker ran a time of 14:56.19 to place first in the 5,000 in a meet-record time, and Vinny Smith added a victory in the 400-hurdles by running 59.57. USMMA claimed the other three wins on Sunday, with Chris Cook winning the 100 and 200-meter dashes in times of 10.95 and 22.39 respectively, and Tomas Sanchez running 50.70 to win the 400-meter dash.
Moravian picked up three individual wins on the track, along with one in a field event, while also winning both relays to help earn its fifth title. Brielle Sutter claimed two of the victories as she won the 400-meter and 200-meter dashes. She ran 58.44 to claim the 400 and 26.52 to place first in the 200. Kristina Ruggiero added a victory in the 800 with a time of 2:19.24, while Micah Leonard won the triple jump with a mark of 11.55. Sutter was also a part of the winning 4x100 relay as she joined with Lisa Williamson, Brianna Wright, and Morgan Redmond in a winning time of 49.77. Ruggiero, Sutter, Wright and Williamson were then at it again as they closed the meet in a time of 4:03.89 to win the 4x400-meter relay.
Catholic’s award-winning duo of Mayfield and Carioto both came away with victories on day two. Mayfield earned her second win of the meet with a time of 11:31.15 to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Carioto won the shot put in a toss of 11.88-meters for her second win of the competition. Goucher’s Destiny Phillips was also a multi-event winner on the day as she set a new meet record in a time of 15.27 to win the 100-meter hurdles, and then was good at that distance again as she placed first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.67. Her teammate Jaclyn Kellon added another win for the Gophers as she defended her title in the 400-meter hurdles by running a time of 1:05.68.
Juniata produced the other two meet records on Sunday with a pair of victories. Angela Shaffer cleared 1.66-meters to set a new mark while winning the high jump, and Katrina Woods’ time of 18:16.04 was a new meet mark and was good for a win in the 5,000. Susquehanna’s Claudia Bartoli placed first in the javelin with a toss of 33.54-meters and Tara Mulligan of USMMA was also an event winner as she threw the hammer 42.49-meters to earn a win.
With the Championship concluded, Landmark teams will now compete at various last-chance meets over the next few weeks in attempts to qualifyfor the NCAA Division III Championships which will be held May 26-28 in Delaware, Ohio hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University. Last season the Landmark sent 10 athletes to the NCAA Championships and had seven competitors earn All-America honors.