Last weekend, Point Park shifted gears from the indoor to the outdoor track and field season as they competed at the UNC-Charlotte 49er Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Both the men’s and women’s teams achieved school records, NAIA qualifiers and high placements as they held their own at this Division I meet.
Headlining the men’s performance was Jakob Blatnik, who was an NAIA national qualifier in the javelin. He also hit the NAIA A-standard as he threw 58.05 meters, good for seventh at the meet.
Freshman Kanye Mills also had a strong showing, setting a school record in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.93 seconds. This is the first time in team history that someone has finished with a time under 15 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles. He also placed sixth in the 400 hurdles with a time of 56.07 seconds, a top-five finish in team history.
Sophomore Jordan Kullen broke a school record in the outdoor 3,000 meters with a time of 9.33 seconds. Freshman Luke McKenna broke a school record in the 5,000 meters that had stood since the inaugural track and field season in 2015. He finished with a time of 15 minutes and 46 seconds.
There were also some high finishers of note. Jannik Windelband placed fourth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9.33. Akeem Mustapha finished sixth in the long jump with a 6.87-meter leap, good for fourth in team outdoor history. He also placed ninth in the 110 hurdles with a 15.49 time, a top-five time in program history.
Ben Blahovec had a 36.9 meter throw in the discus, fourth-best in team history, and the duo of Elijah James and Ramiro Ulunque placed ninth and fifteenth in the 800 meters.
On the women’s side, four school records were broken, one NAIA national qualifier was earned, and several top-five finishes and high placements were set.
Emma Pavelek was an NAIA national qualifier in the outdoor high jump with a 1.65 meter jump. That was good for fifth place and hit the NAIA B standard.
Sophomore Mya Greschner set a school record in the 100 meters with a time of 12.56 seconds, and tied a school record in the 400 meter with a time of 58.09 seconds, good for sixth place.
In the long jump, Greschner completed the fourth-best mark in school history with a 5.03-meter jump.
Diamond Rush set a school record in the 200 meters with a run of 25.22 seconds. She was also a part of the sprints group that set a school record in the 4×100 relay with a time of 48.82 seconds.
Senior Natalea Hillen placed 17th in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.21 seconds. In the same event, Emma Roemer placed 25th with a time of 15.66 seconds. Both times are among the top-five in team history.
Allison Plassio placed fourth in program history in the 1,500 meters with a run of 4:49. Kiyara Sawyers ran a time of 11:49 in the 3,000 meters, good for fifth in team history.
The group of Hare, Plassio, Rios, and Schmid placed seventh in the 4×800 relay with a time of nine minutes, 49 seconds and 80 milliseconds. This was good for the second best 4×800 record in team history.
Next, Point Park will compete in the WVU Stan Romanowski Open in Morgantown, West Virginia next weekend, March 22-23.
