Photos courtesy of Liz Berie, Point Park Athletics
Sophomore jumper Shaun Berry jumps over the bar during the men’s high jump event at the Kent State Indoor Facility on Sat. Feb. 20.
Three Point Park sophomores have qualified for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national indoor meet.
Distance runner Katie Guarnaccia, along with jumpers Jryi Davis and Shaun Berry are the only Pioneers who qualified for the meet after the indoor season ended Saturday at the Kent State Tune-Up.
Coach Kelly Parsley said there were some good performances across the board, but it also wasn’t their best overall meet of the season.
“This year, we were really fortunate to break every school record that we established last year, except for three,” Parsley said. “It’s looking like we are going to have a very strong team for the outdoor season.”
Berry was the highlight of the day, breaking Davis’ triple jump record. The record is now 14.49 meters which ranks him ninth in the nation. He came in third place at Kent State.
“I feel so excited that I made nationals,” Berry said. “I can’t tell you how much I wanted this day to happen. I wasn’t surprised that I made it because I knew that today would be the day. I had a feeling.”
Despite his record being broken, Davis doesn’t foster any ill will toward Berry.
“I’m glad he was able to qualify for nationals,” Davis said. “The way I think of it, records will be broken. I just have to go out there and perform to the best of my abilities. But don’t get me wrong, this will be an ongoing battle between Mr. Berry and I until our final jumps as seniors.”
For athletes like sophomore sprinter JaQuan Lavender and sophomore mid-distance runner Alexander Vaughn, their hopes to make nationals were over.
“It’s devastating to do all the hard work I did and not even qualify for nationals,” Lavender said. “It’s tough not to think about it, but I’m still going to continue to improve and get better every day.”
“I guess it’s okay, seeing as I didn’t make nationals,” Vaughn said. “So it’s really hard for a taller guy like me to do well in indoor so considering that, I did pretty decent for indoor this year.”
Freshman mid-distance runner Desmond Marrow broke the school record in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, .35 seconds and came in 17th place.
“I feel great about it even though I got boxed in a lot,” Marrow said. “I started the season with the record, and I ended the season with the record, which was my goal.”
Multiple school and personal records were broken on the women’s side at Kent State.
Freshman mid-distance runner Madison Przicina broke the previous records for the 400 and the 800-meter races. In the 800, she had a time of 2:23.78 and in the 400, she had a time of 1 minute, 1.08 seconds.
“Even though I didn’t qualify for nationals, I guess the second best thing to that is getting a personal record,” Przicina said. “Since my parents were at the meet, my dad wanted me to win my heat. So winning that heat for him was very nice.”
Freshman Onon Kadima has broken numerous records throughout the season. At the final indoor meet, she broke the school records in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.32 seconds and in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.20 seconds.
“I felt like I could’ve done a lot better because once I hit the second to the last hurdle, it caused me to fall to second in my heat,” Kadima said. “I was even surprised at the time that I ran because my knee was bothering me for the past week. It’s a pretty good place to end really good for my indoor season. So I guess that I didn’t do so bad my freshman year.”
Personal records were at a high for this meet. Athletes like freshman distance runner Nick Kasisky, senior sprinter Eric Biggs, sophomore sprinter Chereese Langley and sophomore distance runner Alexis Sherman were some of the many athletes who broke their own records.
Kasisky broke two personal records during the Kent State Tune-Up. His personal records were in the mile with a time of 5 minutes, 17 seconds and in the 3K run with a time of 10 minutes, 27 seconds.
“I was exhausted when I finished it, but it felt so good because I’m getting close to my actual goal, which is to be under five minutes,” Kasisky said. “The 3K killed me since I felt awful, but at the same time, I felt great. It was so good seeing all of my teammates cheering me on throughout the whole time since they really pushed me through it.”
Biggs broke two personal records, but both in the same event. It was during the 60-meter dash that he broke his personal records. The first time was 7.28 seconds, but his next best time was 7.27 seconds.
“I came out of the box really well,” Biggs said. “It honestly felt like the best that I’ve done in a while.”
Sherman broke her personal record in the mile run with a time of 6 minutes, 10 seconds, with a previous time of 6 minutes, 16 seconds.
“It was really, really painful, but I knew that I would have to stick with the pack that was in front of me,” Sherman said. “I knew that if I kept my eyes on them, I would be able to run a big personal record. I was really happy that I closed the season with a nice race.”
Langley broke her personal records in the 60-meter dash and the 200 meter dash, too.
“It felt like a relieving feeling just to know that all the work that I’m doing is paying off and to be able to do better at each meet,” said Langley. “It’s just a really good feeling to have.”
Point Park’s outdoor track and field teams will begin their season at Slippery Rock on April 2.
Freshman sprinter Onon Kadima dashes ahead of sophomore sprinter Amber Brown at the Kent State Indoor Facility on Sat. Feb. 20.
