By Nicole Hauck, Staff Writer
Susquehanna’s men and women’s track and field team excelled on April 13 and 14 at the Bison Outdoor Classic in Lewisburg, Pa.
Sophomore Marissa Kleman and junior Erin Reese led the women’s team with personal bests in their respective distance events.
Kleman ran her personal best in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:59.43. Kleman is currently ranked sixth in the Landmark Conference for the event. Kleman also competed in the 800-meter run and ran another personal best time of 2:26.63, placing her sixth in the conference.
Reese had finished in sixth place in the 10,000-meter run in 38:49:57.
Other key members of the weekend were junior Alexa Pietrini and sophomore Kate Ross. Pietrini finished the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:58.01, beating her past time by over 10 seconds. Ross also ran her new personal best in the 1500-meter with a time of 5:00.96. Both also got their personal best when competing in the 800-meter. Pietrini ended with 2:23.30, placing herself in third in the conference. While Ross finished with a time of 2:23.63 putting her in fourth place in conference competition.
“My teammates and I knew we had to trust our training and stay mentally tough and focused. In both of our races we knew we had to be patient and race smart,” Pietrini said.
Additionally, for the men’s team, juniors Dylan Heisey and Robert Marks shined in their respective field events.
Heisey threw 42.53 meters in the discus which is the third-longest throw in school history and improved his standing to second place in the Landmark Conference and tenth in the region. Heisey also threw 13.48 meters in the shot put and 44 meters in the hammer throw and earned Landmark Conference Player of the Week honors.
“This weekend was definitely a milestone in my career at Susquehanna,” Heisey said. “I would not be able to do it without the help of all my coaches for always working hard to ensure I’m prepared to compete and win.”
Marks also continued to dominate this spring season with a javelin throw of 54.88 meters.
Senior Kaleb Waiwada set a PR in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.36 and Freshman Jack Warehime set a PR in the mile with a time of 4:33.35.
Both teams will return to action at the Moravian Greyhound Invitational on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20.
