February 20, 2016

Bailey and Gardener Grab First Place Finishes at Kutztown Last Chance Qualifier

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's track and field team had a stellar day at the Kutztown Six-Team Last Chance Qualifier with multiple athletes finishing in the top-10. The team finished fourth overall.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's track and field team had a stellar day at the Kutztown Six-Team Last Chance Qualifier with multiple athletes finishing in the top-10. The team finished fourth overall.

The men's team had two first-place finishes on the day. First was senior Gavin Bailey, who took home the ten points in the long jump. Bailey jumped 7.00 meters (22-11.75), which is tied for 9th on the Track & Field Results Reporting System for NCAA Division III, and the top 15 males in each event will compete at the NCAA Division III National Championships in March. Bailey also took home a fifth place finish in the 55 meter dash running a 6.79 in the preliminary race then a 6.70 in the finals. With Bailey's jump he qualifies to jump at the ECAC DIII meet in March. Also grabbing a first for the Hounds was junior Austin Gardener, who ran a 23.14 in the 200-meter dash. Gardener also grabbed the eighth spot in the 55-meter dash preliminaries with a time of 6.79.

The Greyhounds had four more student-athletes grab top-10 finishes in the 200-meter dash with senior John Barr running a 23.89, sophomore Esco Blaylock at 24.39, freshman Chris Antoine a 24.57 and junior Jamil Poole crossing the line at 24.60. In the 800-meter run freshman Devon Harris took home fourth with a time of 2:02.83 while freshman Benjamin Smith snuck into the 10th spot in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:57.61.

In the field events, senior Ryan Sickler finished sixth with a height cleared of 1.75 meters (5-8.75). In the pole vault, freshman Chris Cordi cleared 3.55 meters (11-7.75) to take the eight spot. In the long jump, junior Kyle Hagerty finished fifth with a jump of 6.26 (20-6.5) meters while freshman Brian Stock finished right behind Hagerty with a jump of 6.06 (19-10.75) meters. Also jumping well for the Blue and Grey was Poole, who finished eighth with a jump of 6.01 (19-8.75) meters and sophomore Eric Morton, who jumped 5.48 (17-11.75) meters for 10th. In the shot put graduate student Parker Munson took home fourth place with a throw of 15.44 (50-8) meters while freshman Denzel Pettway finished just behind Munson with a throw of 14.94 meters (49-0.25). Munson also grabbed eighth place in the weight throw with a toss of 15.43 meters (50-7).