(Posted March 31, 2007)

INDIANA, Pa. - The Juniata College men\'s and women\'s track and field teams continue to show promising signs in the second week of the outdoor season as the Eagles managed two strong performances against a field that included Division I and Division II opponents at the Western PA Championships at Indiana University (Pa.) Saturday. The men finished seventh among the 13-team field, while the women placed eighth out of 12 teams. On the women\'s side, the Eagles again had several strong efforts with the team earning five top-six efforts. On the track, Lia Bella (Morris Catholic/Rockaway, N.J.) ran to fourth-place in the 5,000 with a time of 19:42.49. Also placing fourth on the day was Cassie Majocha (Burrell/Upper Burrell) who ran a time of 1:09.40 to cross the line fourth in the 400 hurdles. Lauren Gates (Bishop Guilfoyle/Altoona) added a sixth place finish with a time of 42:08.61 in the 10,000. In the field events, Kelsey Buffenmyer (Donegal/Mount Joy) twice finished in the top six. She was second in the high jump, clearing 1.62 meters to earn that finish. She was also fourth in the long jump, with a best jump of 4.99 meters. Juniata picked up a pair of wins on the men\'s side as senior Randy Anderson (DuBois/DuBois) returned to action and claimed wins in two events. He won the 100 in a time of 11.01, and then also posted a victory in the long jump with a leap of 6.70 meters. The Juniata men added several other top-six performances on the day. Tripp Rudolph (Upper St. Clair/Pittsburgh) ran a time of 4:08.09 which was good for sixth place in the 1,500. Matthew Bailey (Hempfield/East Petersburg) matched his sixth-place effort in the 10,000 with a time of 33:37.09. T.J. Breya (East Juniata/McClure) placed fifth in the 400 hurdles in a time of 57.82. Off the track it was another excellent day for the Juniata throwers. With a 16th-place finish in the hammer throw freshman Ryan Johnson (Crestwood/Mountaintop) broke the school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 35.18 meters which broke a record established in 2005. Kyle Mazur (Morris Catholic/Ogdensburg, N.J.) was also strong on the day as he placed sixth in the javelin with a throw of 53.99 meters. Johnson also established a new personal best in the javelin, improving on his previous best by more than 13 feet. Juniata will be back in action on Wednesday with a meet at Elizabethtown College featuring several conference opponents. ###

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