Maroons Beat Alma (MI) College by 73.5 Points, RC Men Third
SALEM, VA -- The Roanoke College women's outdoor track & field team won the 2004 Maroon Invitational hosted by the college in Salem, VA on Saturday afternoon. The Roanoke women accumulated 173 total points, 73.5 point better than second place Alma (MI) College. The Roanoke men finished in a tie for third place with Southern Virginia College, 51.5 points behind second place Bridgewater and 62.5 points in back of men's champ Wittenberg (OH).Between the Roanoke women and men, the Maroons won six individual titles on Saturday and won one relay event. Adria Mannon (Floyd, VA/Floyd) was the overall champ in the women's 100 meter hurdles in 16.32. Also helping the Roanoke women to the team title were Christie Van Pelt (Richardsville, VA/Culpepper), Hanna Hughes (Winchester, VA/John Handley), and Kristen Lovell (Pilot, VA/Floyd) who all won individual events. Van Pelt was the overall winner in the 5,00 meters, finishing in 19:38, almost a minute better than the second place runner. Hughes won the long jump with a distance of 5.05 meters, while Lovell took the title in the discus (35.51m).
Balancing out the women's titles were winning efforts on the men's side by Rob Welch (Seekonk, MA/Seekonk), Eric Johnson (Topsham, ME/Mt. Ararat), and the sprint medley team. Welch was the victor in the steeplechase, beating out an Alma athlete by less than a second. Johnson's victory came in the 10,000 meters, where he beat out teammate Andrew Parkins (Charlottesville, VA/Albemarle) by 30 seconds.
Several Maroons, including Rich Egger (Beacon, NY/Beacon) (men's triple jump), Kaylin Leavitt (Arlington, VA/Yorktown) (400 meter hurdles), Ashley Eshaghi (Buena Vista, VA/Parry McCluer) (10,000 meters), Meade McGuire (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) (long jump) and Bryant Burnett (Marshall, VA/Fauquier) (pole vault) had runner-up finishes as well.
The Maroons go to the Bridgewater College Invitational on Saturday March 27th in Bridgewater, VA.