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Track and Field Teams Win 12 Events at Home Meet

Friday, January 25, 2013
 

Forget about the DeSales runner a half a lap ahead of him. When senior Isaiah Vaughn took the baton for the first 400-meter run of his college career, it was another Muhlenberg runner just a few steps behind who was the bigger concern.

Ryan Hellings
Senior Ryan Hellings won the pole vault at the Muhlenberg Invitational for the first time since his freshman year. He was third in 2011 and second last year.
Vaughn was part of a 4x400 relay team comprised of four members of the Mule football team. The wide receiver was joined by junior defensive backs Andrew Onimus and Darnell Davis and sophomore kicker Keenan Mease.

The other Mule team in the heat was made up of all distance runners: junior Jarrett Felix, sophomore Kieran Newcomb and freshmen Forrest Kentwell and Alex Weiner.

“All week there was trash talking going on, so I knew the pressure was on,” joked Vaughn.

Cassiah Sahl
Sophomore Cassiah Sahl won the 800 meters by four-and-a-half seconds.
What Vaughn did made both of his teams – football and track – proud, running a blistering final leg to not only hold off his “rivals” from the cross country team but also overtake the DeSales runner and win by more than a second-and-a-half.

Vaughn’s performance in his first 400 since high school brought a spirited end to a strong night for the Muhlenberg track and field teams at the Muhlenberg Indoor Invitational. Although the meet was larger than usual, the Mules had their customary success at home, winning 12 of the 26 events.

“Our mentality for this meet is this is our home track,” said junior Stephanie Carnevale. “We have such great workouts here all week, and we want to put that back out on the track, especially when our friends can come to watch us.”

Carnevale’s friends got to witness her in the top performance of the night, an 8.47-second clocking in the 55-meter hurdles that shattered an eight-year-old school record by almost two-tenths of a second.

“Yeah, finally! I’ve been working at that since freshman year,” said Carnevale, who came close last year when her 60-meter time of 9.31 converted to an 8.69 – just off the previous mark of 8.66. “I’ve been waiting for this, but I’m not done. I want to keep going.”

Carnevale just missed another school record in the 55, crossing the line in 7.63; the record is 7.57. Her time in the hurdles qualified her for the ECAC Championships, and junior Erin Saucier also had an ECAC-qualifying performance while winning the pole vault.

Freshman Ashley Riley was the lone Mule to win two events, capturing the long and triple jumps and setting a personal best in the latter. Four other freshmen won their events, including two for the women. Melanie Tramontina captured the mile, and Claire Thornton led a 1-2-3-4-5-6 Muhlenberg finish in the 400.

Senior Colette Faust led a 1-2 Faust finish in the high jump, beating out her younger sister Katrina.

“We have so much more depth,” said Carnevale. “I’m really proud of our team. We’ve done so well in our first three meets, and I can’t wait to see how much more we can do. We’re really going after it.”

For the men, Weiner won the 800 and classmate Brandon Tauber took the high jump, tying for 10th on the all-time performance list with a leap of 5-10¾
Click here for Muhlenberg placewinners.
Click here for complete results.
Click here for a photo gallery from the meet.