Benson leads men with two top finishes at Penn Invitational

April 6, 2002

PHILADELPHIA, PA- Sophomore Erik Benson (Southbury, CT) earned a pair of individual titles in the 200 and 400-meter dashes for the Wheaton College men's track & field team, while the women posted six national qualifying standards at the Penn Invitational at Franklin Field on Saturday. There were no team scores kept at the 13-team meet.

Benson paced the field with a time of 22.20 in the 200M dash and then hit an NCAA Division III national meet provisional qualifying finish of 48.09 in the 400M dash. Rounding out the top five in both events were runners from Temple, Penn and Cornell. First-year Adam Walker (Westfield, NJ) placed fifth overall in the 400-meter dash in 49.56.

Freshman Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY) also captured an individual championship in the high jump at the Invitational, as he posted a height of 7' 1/4" to earn his second high jump title in as many outdoor meets. Other strong performances came from senior Ray Smith (Providence, RI), who placed sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.19, and the 4x100-meter relay team.

The foursome finished fourth overall in 42.40, just fourth-tenths of a second off the provisional qualifying time. Junior Alex DeJong (Hamilton, MA) registered two top-ten finishes in the hurdles, placing eighth overall in the 110-meter high hurdles event in 15.48 and tenth in the 400-meter high hurdles with a time of 57.39.

For the women, first-year phenom Tessa Donoghue (Springfield, MA) led the way with three top-three finishes in all three jumping events, including a pair of runner-up marks in the long and triple and a third-place result in the high. In the process, Donoghue landed two NCAA Division III national meet provisional qualifying jumps, including a mark of 18' 5" in the long and 37' 4 1/2" in the triple. In the high jump, she cleared 5' 2 1/4".

Also on the field, junior Kerry Teamey (Klamath Falls, OR) tied the top performance in the pole vault at 11' 5 3/4", a mark good enough for a provisional qualifying standard. Rounding out the national meet qualifiers was sophomore Amber James (Woodbury, MN) in the 400-meter dash with a second-place time of 57.33 (fastest among collegiate competitors), first-year Erin O'Brien (North Easton, MA) in the 5,000-meter run with a third-place standing of 17:58, which shattered the old school record by 52, seconds and senior Niara Woods (Philadelphia, PA) in the 800-meter run with a seventh-place time of 2:16.49.

Rounding out the top-ten finishes was James in the 200-meter dash in 25.61, Donoghue in the 400-meter dash in 58.53, Teamey in the high jump at 5' 1/4", junior Noreen Kordzeil (Chittenango, NY) in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Kim Spence (Dover, NH) and first-year April Butler (Clinton, MD) in the 400M hurdles, freshman Jen Sutyak (Scarborough, ME) in the pole vault, senior Kate Getz (Cumberland, ME) in the triple jump and first-year Kirsten Larsen (Hampden, MA) in the javelin.

For results, go to http://pennathletics.fansonly.com/sports/m-track/recaps/040602aaa.html.

Last updated on 4/8/02.
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