(Posted February 26, 2005)

Selinsgrove, Pa.? A strong indoor track season for the Juniata College men?s and women?s teams came to a nice conclusion with a pair of solid team finishes at the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Selinsgrove Saturday afternoon.

The Eagle men posted a fifth-place finish as they closed the meet with 44 points, a 27-point improvement from its point total at last year?s meet. The Juniata women earned 17 points in the meet to finish in seventh place.

Juniata?s top finish on the women?s side came from sophomore Elena Amato (Notre Dame Prep./Baltimore, Md.). Amato ran to a third-place finish in the 800-meters, recording a time of 2:22.98 which was nearly a second faster than her previous best time.

Amato joined with Caitlin Hinson (Danville/Danville), Rebecca Shoaf (Madison/Madison, N.J.) and Meredith Troutman (Meyersdale/Meyersdale) to also record a fourth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay.

Also recording a high individual finish was Kira Troutman (Line Mountain/Valley View) who placed third for the Eagles in the shot put. Rounding out the scoring for Juniata was Nancy Hayes (Westminster/Westminster, Md.) who placed sixth in the 5,000-meters.

Randy Anderon (DuBois/DuBois) paced the Eagle men?s team at the meet, as he recorded the team?s only first-place finish. The sophomore sprinted to a first-place finish in the 55-meter dash, posting a time of 6.55 seconds. Gary Ondecko (Bishop Carroll/Northern Cambria) added a fifth-place finish for Juniata in the event.

Anderson then posted a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash, and later added a sixth-place finish in the long jump. Jeremy Weber (Garden Spot/Mohnton) placed second in the long jump, one of two events in which the Eagles had a pair of point-producing performers. Weber also finished second in the triple jump for Juniata.

Also finishing fourth in a field event was Adam Loser (Central York/York) who jumped 6? 2? to earn his spot. Ben Beas (Kiski Prep/Johnstown) rounded out Juniata?s individual scoring efforts as he ran to a sixth-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles.

The Eagles added a pair of fourth-place finishes in relay events as the team of Beas, Will Cantara (West Branch/Wineburn), Ondecko and Anderson placed fourth in the 4x400-meter relay. That effort was matched in the distance medley relay as Justin Fritzius (Central York/York), Cantara, Eric Hoover (Brandywine/Wilmington, De.) and Mike Vella (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) posted a fourth-place time of 10:48.98.

Juniata will now wait to see if any of its athletes will qualify to participate in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Indiana March 11. The Eagles have two athletes who have provisionally qualified for the meet.

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