(Posted February 28, 2009)

SELINSGROVE, Pa. -- The Juniata College men's track and field team took first place in the distance medley relay and the long jump, while the women's team captured the high jump and the 4x400m relay, with each team finishing third out of six schools at the 2009 Landmark Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, held Saturday at Susquehanna University.

The men's team was third with 68 points, with Susquehanna winning the conference crown with 206 points. Moravian College was second with 169 points, followed by Juniata, Catholic University (53 pts.), the United States Merchant Marine Academy (19 pts.), and Goucher College (7 pts.).

On the women's side, the Eagles tallied 91 points for their third place finish, with Moravian capturing the title with 245 points. Susquehanna was second with 115 points, followed by Juniata, Catholic (51 pts.), Goucher (18 pts.) and Merchant Marine (1 pt.).

Patrick Filamor (Wanchai, Hong Kong) captured the only individual crown on the men's side, winning the long jump with an effort of 6.77m (22-2 ½). Filamor also posted fourth place finishes in the 55m dash (6.67 seconds) and the triple jump (12.22m/40-1 ¼). George Bodziock (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) was two places behind Filamor in the long jump, finishing third with a jump of 6.36m (20-10 ½).

Juniata's other first place finish in the men's championship came in the distance medley relay, where the team of Tripp Rudolph (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), Nevin Diehl (Shippensburg, Pa./Danville), Sam Williams (Roaring Spring, Pa./Central), and Ceth Parker (Sabillasville, Md./Catoctin) finished with a time of 10:48.73.

Other top three finishes for the Eagles came in the pole vault, where Ryan Baird (North Huntingdon Pa./Norwin) was third after clearing the height of 4.10m (13-5 ¼); in the 800m run, with Rudolph's second place finish in a time of 1:58.93; and in the 4x800m relay, where Rudolph and Parker teamed up with Nik Klena (Franklin, Pa./Oil City) and Jake Hartberger (Temple, Pa./Muhlenberg) to finish second with a time of 8:12.98.

In the women's meet, Kelsey Buffenmyer (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) won the high jump, successfully clearing the bar at 1.52m (4-11 ¾). Buffenmyer also logged a fourth place finish in the 55m hurdles with a time of 9.42, just two-hundreths of a second behind Melissa Johnson (Colonia, N.J./John F. Kennedy) who was third in the hurdles with a time of 9.40 seconds.

Johnson was the lead runner for Juniata's other first place finish of the afternoon, in the 4x400m relay where she teamed with Courtney DeGemmis (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton), Rebecca Shuke (Hopewell, Pa./Tussey Mountain), and Amy Reynolds (Harpers Ferry, W.Va./Jefferson) to post a time of 4:15.45.

Those same four runners also recorded a third-place finish in the 4x200m relay with a time of 1:51.15. Individually, Reynolds was second in the 400m dash with her mark of 1:01.97.

The Juniata women also received top three finishes from Stephanie Varner (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon), who was third in the pole vault by clearing the height of 3.05m (10-0); Laura Rupprecht (Jefferson, Md./Brunswick), who was second in the mile run (5:18.71); and Meghan Jones (Meadville, Pa./Meadville), with her third place finish in the 5000m with a time of 19:22.42 - the lead runner in a pack of three runners who finished third through fifth and were separated by less than a second.

Complete men's results are available by clicking here.

Complete women's results are available by clicking here.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.