Bloomsburg Track Teams In Action at Two Events

BLOOMSBURG —The Bloomsburg University track men's and women's track teams took part in two different competitions over the weekend seeing action at the Raleigh Relays and the Susquehanna Invitational.

On Friday night at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina, several Huskies took part in the distance events. For the men at 5,000 meters, Mike Espinosa (Media/Penncrest) ran a PSAC-qualifying time of 15:34, while Dave Sanford (Nescopeck/Central Columbia) ran 15:53. In the women's 5,000 meters, Amber Hackenberg (Middleburg/Middleburg) ran PSAC qualifying time of 17:49, a time that was 17 seconds faster than she ran just several weeks earlier indoors. Her time was also a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA championships.

At 10,000 meters, Justin Shephard (Cranberry Twp/Seneca Valley) ran 31:28 to qualify for the PSAC championships, while on the women's side at 10,000 meters, Sarah Bounds (Shippensburg/Shippensburg) and Karen Hause (Bloomsburg/Central Columbia) both qualified for the PSAC championships running 38:52 and 39:34, respectively.

On Saturday the Huskies took part in the Susquehanna Invitational. For the women, Laura Duceman (Mt. Carmel/Mt. Carmel) was ninth at 400 meters in 63.81 seconds. At 800-meters, Cherise Mercer (Philadelphia/Bishop McDevitt) was second in a time of 2:21.40. At 5,000-meters, Toni Zangari (Sunbury/Shikellamy) ran 19:42, Ella Daniels (Tunkhannock/Tunkannock) 19:50 and Megan Chaudrue (Carlisle/Carlisle) 19:57.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Mary Bacher (New Tripoli/Central Catholic) ran 11:48 to finish second, while the 4 x 400 relay team was fourth of 15 teams in a time of 4:09.68 with Conni Raineri (Gilbertville/St. Pius X), Katie Conlon (Inkerman/Pittston Area), Ducemen and Mercer running for the Huskies. Raineri also was seventh in the long jump with a mark of 16-1.

For the men, Greg McGhee (Philadelphia/Cheltenham) took first in the finals winning in a time of 11.22 seconds. McGhee was also third in the 200-meters in 23.04. At 800-meters, Matt Corridoni (Pittston/Pittston) was second in 1:57.88 seconds, while Bill Shephardson (McMurray/Peters Township) was eighth of 39 competitors in 15:31.

At 10,000-meters, Tim Marcoe (Lansdale/Lansdale Catholic) took 11th of 24 runners in 33:46, while the 4 x 400 relay team was 4th of 14 in a time of 3:29.01 with Jamie Ruth (Newtown, PA), Sam Martin (Mount Joy/Donegal), McGhee and Corridoni running.