Forecasts of snow earlier in the week proved to be wrong, and it actually turned out to be a pretty nice day for the 19th Muhlenberg Invitational. And it was a nice day for the Mule track and field teams too.
The two teams combined for 31 new or improved Centennial Conference qualifiers, nine ECAC qualifiers, five new or improved all-time top 10 performances and two first-place finishes.
The performance of the meet belonged to senior
Michael Havkins, who set a personal best of 161-10 in winning the discus. He added more than a foot to his previous top throw of 160-9 and closed to within two-and-a-half feet of the 42-year-old school record of 164-2. Entering the weekend, there were only five better marks in Division III this season.
Muhlenberg's other first-place finisher, senior
Emily Davidson (pictured above left), breezed to a win in the 800 meters, defeating the second-place finisher by more than three seconds. Her time of 2:18.48 ranks seventh on the all-time performance list.
Senior
Anthony Calantoni led four Mules in the top six in the men's 1500, while on the women's side, seniors
Jamie Pacilio and
Mallory Snyder both finished in the top five. Calantoni's time was good for 10th place on the performance list.
Three sixth-place finishers ran personal bests - junior
Jacob Saxon by nearly three seconds in the 1500, junior
Stuart Bibeau by nearly three seconds in the 800 and sophomore
Michael Rainone (pictured above right) in the 100.
Junior
Erik Berger joined Havkins as an ECACÂ qualifier in the discus, and freshman
Zach Lill qualified for ECACs and tied for ninth place on the performance list in the pole vault in his first outdoor meet for the Mules (although thr pole vault was moved indoors due to wind).
Freshman
Jeff Alvarez placed fifth in the 400 and ran on the all-freshman 4x400 relay team - with
Declan Walkush,
Gregory Shanahan and
Luke Ullmann - that came in fourth.
An alumnus also performed well at the meet, as 2017 NCAA qualifier and two-time CC champion
Jaryd Flank '17 won the steeplechase as an unattached runner.
complete results
Muhlenberg Placewinners
men
100m: 6.
Michael Rainone, 11.65
200m: 8.
Christopher Dasaro, 23.39
400m: 5.
Jeff Alvarez, 51.79
800m: 6.
Stuart Bibeau, 1:59.82; 8.
Luke Ullmann, 2:01.54
1500m: 2.
Anthony Calantoni, 4:00.60 (ECACÂ qualifier); 3.
Corey Mullins, 4:01.35 (ECACÂ qualifier); 5.
Jason Richwall, 4:01.40; 6.
Jacob Saxon, 4:07.05
110m hurdles: 4.
Matt Polanco, 17.44
4x400m: 4.
Declan Walkush,
Luke Ullmann,
Jeff Alvarez,
Gregory Shanahan, 3:33.36; 8.
Mike Bessette,
Stuart Bibeau,
Jason Richwall,
Corey Mullins, 3:43.18
Discus: 1.
Michael Havkins, 161-10 (ECACÂ qualifier); 4.
Erik Berger, 137-11 (ECACÂ qualifier)
women
800m: 1.
Emily Davidson, 2:18.48 (ECACÂ qualifier); 8.
Victoria Cabellos, 2:29.38
1500m: 4.
Jamie Pacilio, 4:54.59 (ECACÂ qualifier); 5.
Mallory Snyder, 4:59.95
High jump: 3t.
Alison Stouffer, 4-9¾ (ECAC qualifier); 3t.
Alana Noehrenberg, 4-9¾ (ECAC qualifier); 8.
Rashida Haye, 4-7¾
Hammer: 5.
Julia Leep-Lazar, 107-5
Â