April 29, 2008

CLARION - After five months of training, the Clarion University women's track and field team is ready for the championship portion of its season starting at the PSAC Track & Field Championships Thursday through Saturday at IUP.

"I'm very excited that PSAC's are finally here," Clarion's second-year head coach Jayson Resch said. "I believe our whole indoor and outdoor seasons have really been focused on being ready for the PSAC Championships. We didn't back off from training for the indoor championship because we wanted to come into the outdoor championship ready to peak. We have had plenty of time and some great meets to prepare for this meet. The weather has been great since mid-March, and out trip to North Carolina (in March) allowed us time to train and compete in warm weather early in the season."

Resch and the Golden Eagles, who finished seventh of 14 teams at last season's PSAC outdoor meet, have already been thrown a curve ball coming into this year's meet having lost All-American Erin Richard (Erie/McDowell), who was the PSAC Outdoor Women's Track Athlete of the Year last season, to a season-ending injury. Richard, a senior who holds five outdoor school records, won PSAC titles in the outdoor 3,000 and 5,000 last season giving her seven overall PSAC titles. She was an All-American in the indoor 5,000 and the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 last year finishing fourth in the outdoor 5,000 and third in the 10,000. She had already qualified for the NCAA and PSAC meets this year in the 1,500, the 3,000 and the steeplechase despite finishing just two meets. Richard will be applying for a medical redshirt for the outdoor 2008 season.

Without Richard in the lineup, Clarion won't be scoring as many points as originally anticipated, but the Golden Eagles will still have opportunities to score while also looking to qualify additional athletes for the NCAA Championship meet.

"With the loss of Erin, our team goal has changed," Resch said. "We're going to focus on individual performances and the 4x400 relay. I believe if everyone stays focused on their events and we can put together a strong relay, we will have a chance to be in the Top Eight. That is our primary team goal - fighting for a position in the Top Eight. We have nine athletes competing in individual events and 10 athletes competing total which is a solid number. So I know we can still be competitive as a team."

Clarion will be led by two NCAA Division II provisional qualifiers Diane Kress (Jr., Pittsburgh/North Hills) and Ann Stinson (So., New Castle/Shenango).

Kress has qualified provisional for the NCAA's in the heptathlon while qualifying for PSAC's in the heptathlon, high jump, 100 hurdles, triple jump and long jump. She will compete in the heptathlon and triple jump at PSAC's and is the top seeded athlete in the heptathlon (4,481 points) and the eighth seed in the triple jump (36-6 1/4). Her 4,481 points in the heptathlon is the school record.

Last season Kress finished fourth at outdoor PSAC's in the heptathlon and fifth in the triple jump. She was fifth in the pentathlon at the PSAC indoor meet this season, and was the PSAC indoor champion in the triple jump in 2007 while also taking seventh in the 55 hurdles that season. She also finished seventh in the triple jump at the PSAC outdoor meet as a freshman in 2006.

"I believe Diane is fully prepared to protect her spot as the top seed and hopefully walk away with an individual conference championship," Resch said.

Stinson enters the PSAC meet as the top seed in the javelin (137-2) after finishing fourth in the event as a freshman last season. Stinson got a later start to her season this year because she was also a member of Clarion's PSAC qualifying women's basketball team, but Resch believes she is peaking at the right time.

"Ann had a great day of throwing this past weekend at St. Francis despite some bad weather," Resch said. "She hopes to improve on her top-seeded throw, and I'm very confident she will have a great shot to earn All-Conference honors."

Another top performer for the Golden Eagles could be Chinonyelum Nwokedi (Jr., Oil City/Oil City), who has qualified for the PSAC Championships in three events including two Top Five seeds.

Nwokedi is the third seed in the long jump (17-10 ¾) and the fifth seed in the shot put (40-4) while also qualifying in the 100 where she is seeded 16th (12.87). Her jump of 17-10 ¾ in the long jump is the school record. She was 10th in the shot put at last year's PSAC's and 18th in the 100. Nwokedi was also seventh in the shot put at the 2007 PSAC Indoor Championships.

"ChiChi has been working hard over the past three weeks and will have a chance to score in both the long jump and shot put," Resch said.

Two additional Golden Eagle runners have earned Top 10 seeds.

Jamie Maloney (So., York/Dallastown) is seeded fifth in the 400 hurdles (1:04.18) and 10th in the 100 hurdles (15.66). She is the school-record holder in the 400 (1:04.04), setting the record last season when she broke Laurie Carter's 26-year old school record in the event. She was seventh in the 400 hurdles and eighth in the 100 hurdles at last season's PSAC outdoor meet.

"Jamie is improving and getting hot at the right time in the season," Resch said. "I am very confident that Jamie will be fully prepared to place in both events at the PSAC's."

Molly Smathers (Jr., Clarion/Clarion Area) is seeded 10th in the 1,500 (4:44.87), although she will actually be seeded no lower than ninth because Richard was the top seed in the event. Smathers, who was eighth in the indoor 800 in February, also qualified in the 800 and 3,000 steeplechase but won't run those events.

"Molly has improved in the 1,500 all year," Resch said. "I believe she has a chance to score very high in the event."

Kate Ehrensberger (Sr., St. Marys/Elk County Catholic) also could have a shot at scoring for the Golden Eagles in the 800 despite entering the event as the 19th seed (2:22.75). She finished seventh in the 800 at the PSAC Indoor Championships in February and just missed scoring in the event at last year's outdoor PSAC's finishing ninth. She was also second at the 2007 PSAC Indoor Championships in the 800.

"I truly believe Kate has a great chance to make the finals in the 800," Resch said. "She ran one of her fastest open 400s this past weekend which shows she is ready to run a great 800."

Resch also has high hopes for Clarion's 4x400 relay team of Jamie Miller (Jr., Johnstown/Bishop McCort), Ehrensberger, Smathers and Maloney, which enters the meet seeded eighth (4:09.94).

"I'm very confident this group can put together a great race and place in the Top Eight at the championship," Resch said.

Three additional Golden Eagle athletes will be looking to improve on their seeds while hoping to set personal best times at the PSAC Championships.

Amy Kirkwood (So., Annville/Annville-Aeona) will compete in the high jump, an event she is seeded 21st in (4-11), while Lisa Nickel (So., Pittsburgh/Shaler) will run the 1,500 (seeded 29th - 4:57.81) and Andrea Strickenberger (Jr., Leeper/North Clarion) the 100 hurdles (seeded 16th - 16.07).

"Our goal is to have them get personal bests at the meet," Resch said.

NOTES - Clarion's best finish was sixth in 2003 ... The Golden Eagles will run two meets in Ohio next weekend with the hope of qualifying additional athletes for the NCAA Championships, which are being held May 22-24 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Clarion will run at the Cedarville University Open May 9 and at Ohio University May 10 ... Clarion's last PSAC Outdoor Champion prior to Richard, who also won outdoor PSAC titles in the 1,500 and 3,000 in 2006 (she has three PSAC indoor titles as well), was Melissa Yearous, who won her second of two consecutive titles in the high jump in 2000 ... While Kress and Stinson have provisionally qualified for the NCAA D-II meet that doesn't mean they will actually compete at the meet. The NCAA takes a certain number of athletes in each event, and neither Kress nor Stinson will know if they will be going to the NCAA meet for a couple of more weeks ... Resch believes Shippensburg and Slippery Rock are the clear meet favorites with IUP and California also being very competitive.