April 25, 2009
Grove City wins 5th straight title
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's track and field team captured its fifth straight Presidents' Athletic Conference championship Saturday afternoon at the PAC Championships, hosted by Westminster College at Memorial Field. The Wolverines earned 201 team points to out-distance Washington & Jefferson, which had 128 points.
Six Grove City athletes earned individual titles Saturday. On the track, senior Dan Spaulding (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) won the 10,000 with a time of 35 minutes, 3.56 seconds. Junior Derek Kruse (Middlefield, Ohio/Cardinal) won the 1500 in 4:07.39 while senior Darin Miller (Line Lexington, Pa./Christopher Dock) won the 800 in 1:59.64. Junior Frankie Hourigan (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) won the 3000 steeplechase in 10:20.56.
Junior Matt Ridge (Latrobe, Pa./Latrobe) won the shot put with a mark of 15.39 meters while senior Matt Six (Akron, Ohio/Manchester) won the discus with a throw of 45.12 meters.
Grove City placed second in both relay events. The 4x100 relay team of senior Chris Allebach (Souderton, Pa./Souderton), sophomore John Fite (Sunnyvale, Calif./Ad Fontes), senior Charlie Roth (Butler, Pa./Homeschooled) and junior Tim Palma (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-Dewitt) earned runner-up with a time of 43.31 seconds. Allebach, sophomore Kevin Gallagher (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West), Miller and Palma sealed the championship by finishing second in the 1600 relay with a 3:26.27 clocking.
Sophomore Scott Harman (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Borough) cleared 4.03m in the pole vault to earn second while senior Chris Huber (Ontario, Ohio/Ontario) finished second in the shot with a mark of 14.69m.
Fite took third in both the 200 (23.38) and 400 (49.66) while Spaulding took third in the 5000 (16:46.17). Allebach posted a 56.88 in the 400 hurdles to finish third while senior Tim Su (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) took third in the 10,000 (35:39.86). Kruse cleared 1.90m in the high jump while junior Tony Clark (Stow, Ohio/Stow) finished third in the discus with a toss of 43.17 meters. Sophomore Pete Polesnak (Hermitage, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) finished third in the javelin with a throw of 50.96m.
Ridge added a fourth-place finish in the discus (42.41m) while Kruse also took fourth in the 800 with a 2:01.05 clocking. Hourigan took fourth in both the 1500 (4:17.34) and 5000 (17:05.10) while Harman threw the javelin 49.52m, good for fourth place.
Roth placed fifth in the 100 with a time of 11.63 seconds. Freshman Ben Lutz (Sykesville, Md./Marriotts Ridge) finished fifth in the steeplechase (10:57.26) while classmate David Ferreira (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) took fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 12.63m.
Six finished sixth in the shot (13.51m) while Su took sixth in the 5000 (17.08.74). Freshman David Cole (Ridgway, Pa./Elk County Catholic) took sixth in the 10,000 (37:21.75) while junior Andrew Falcone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Robinson Township Christian) claimed sixth in the steeplechase (11:04.81). Sophomore Luke Johnston (Toledo, Ohio/Eastwood) placed sixth in the 100 dash (11.78).
Hourigan earned 24 total points for Grove City while Kruse had 22 points. Grove City's 73-point win is its biggest margin of victory since 2002. Overall, the Wolverines have won 10 PAC titles in the last 11 years.
Go back to Wolverine Track and Field Home Page