February 26, 2015
Grove City claims inaugural PAC Indoor Track and Field title
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Grove City College women's track and field team rallied in the final three events to defeat Westminster and claim the team title at inaugural Presidents' Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Watson and Tressel Training Site on Youngstown State University's campus on Thursday evening.
The Wolverines accumulated 116 team points in the 15-event meet, edging the second-place Titans' total of 110.
Junior Emily Rabenold (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) was named both the conference's Overall Track and Field MVP and the Track Co-MVP after earning individual wins and setting new meet records in the mile (5:18.00) and the 5000 (18:27.54) and helping the Wolverines to a win in the distance medley relay. For Rabenold, it is her fourth-consecutive conference MVP honor, as she earned Cross Country Runner of the Year laurels in both 2013 and 2014 while claiming the 2014 PAC Outdoor Track and Field MVP title last spring.
Head Coach Todd Gibson was named the PAC Indoor Track and Field Women's Coach of the Year.
Sophomore Rachel Watson (Jackson Center, Pa./Lakeview) also claimed an individual PAC title for the Wolverine women, taking the women's triple jump with a victorious leap of 33 feet, 3.75 inches.
Westminster jumped out to a big early lead in the meet behind a 1-2-3-5 finish in the pole vault; however, Grove City rallied to claim the lead with a 1-3-6 showing in the 5000 and held off the Titans with a win in the distance medley relay and a second-place finish in the 4x400 relay.
Sophomore Kellen McGann (Suffield, Conn./Suffield), junior Adrienne Scrima (Westtown, N.Y./Minisink Valley) and junior Stevie Huston (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) teamed with Rabenold for the important victory in the distance medley relay with a meet-record time of 13:12.87.
Junior Eliza Lowe (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) added a runner-up finish for the Wolverines in the 60 hurdles with a time of 9.49 seconds. In prelims, Lowe completed the event in 9.44 seconds, which meets the ECAC Division III qualifying standard. Senior Mara Womer (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and Scrima finished seventh (10.51) and eighth (10.52), respectively, in the event.
Huston also added an individual runner-up finish for Grove City, taking second in the 800 in 2:28.27, and posted a fifth-place finish in the mile in 5:27.60. Scrima joined her on the podium in the 800 with a fourth-place time of 2:30.30.
Freshman Mackenzie Klinvex (Wexford, Pa./Shady Side Academy) placed third as part of the Wolverines' meet-deciding showing in the 5000 with a time of 18:41.71 and also finished seventh in the mile in 5:32.25.
Freshman Brooke Beatty (Cortland, Ohio/Lakeview) led Grove City's throwers with a fourth-place finish in the shot put, achieving a best throw of 35 feet, 1.25 inches. Sophomore Melanie Packard (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) and junior Michaela Velloney (Chesapeake, Va./Greenbrier Christian) took fourth (9-5.75) and sixth (8-6), respectively, in the pole vault while sophomore Katie Hess (Medina, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) finished fifth in both the high jump (4-8.25) and the triple jump (31-4).
Sophomore Lauren Pearce (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville) placed fourth in the 400 in 1:01.48 while Lowe was just two spots back in sixth (1:01.69). Sophomore Lydia Keiper (East Greenville, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) added a sixth-place finish in the 5000 with a time of 19:40.14.
Junior Allison Blain (Danbury, Conn./Danbury), sophomore Bethany Easom (Keller, Texas/Saline), Pearce and Lowe finished the meet with a second-place finish in 4:10.33 to secure the team title.
Lowe, Rabenold, and freshman thrower Kate Toomey (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) have all qualified for next weekend's ECAC Division III Indoor Championships, to be held at the New York City Armory.
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