March 28, 2004
Grove City competes at Clarion Early Bird Invitational
CLARION, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's track and field squad opened the 2004 season Saturday at Clarion University's Early Bird Invitational.
Nearly a dozen Grove City athletes turned in top 10 performances Saturday for Grove City. Senior javelin standout Rory Phillips (Kane, Pa./Kane), a 2003 NCAA Championships qualifier, led Grove City with a second-place finish in the javelin. Phillips opened the season with a toss of 171 feet, 1/2 inch. That mark surpasses the ECAC qualifying standard.
He was one of three Wolverines to finish in the top 10 in the javelin as freshman Matt Klein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) took eighth with a throw of 143-4 1/2 and senior Dan Corsi (Aliquippa, Pa./Center) took 10th (141-4 1/2).
Also in the field, senior Drew Martin (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) took fifth in the high jump with a leap of 5-10 while junior Pete Franklin (Jamestown, N.Y./Southwestern Central) placed ninth in the discus (122-1). Freshman Mark Murchie (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) placed ninth in the high jump (5-8) and sophomore Matt George (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) took 10th in the pole vault, clearing 12 feet.
On the track, junior Luke Henry (Knox, Pa./Keystone) took fourth in the 800 (2:02.61) while freshman Andrew Kloes (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) placed fifth in the 10,000 (36:21.7). Freshman Samuel Dippold (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) placed sixth in the 400 hurdles (57.30) while Murchie grabbed seventh in the 400 (52.68). Dippold, in his first collegiate race, qualified for the ECAC Championships in May with his time.
Sophomore Jon Essel (East Hartland, Conn./The Gilbert School) finished seventh in the 10,000 with a time of 37:14.
Grove City's 4x400 relay squad picked up a third-place finish as the quartet of Henry, Martin, Murchie and freshman Jesse Sunquist (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) turned in a time of 3:33.04. The Wolverines' 4x100 relay team of Steve Caprio (Wharton, N.J./Pope John XXIII), Matthew Kennedy (Allenwood, Pa./Morrison Academy, Taiwan), Yu Kuwabara (Owings Mills, Md./University School, W. Va.) and Murchie grabbed sixth place with a time of 45.78 seconds.
A total of 18 teams from Divisions I, II and III participated in the meet.
Grove City will compete in the West Penn Meet at Carnegie Mellon University next Saturday, April 3.
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