Susquehanna Men's Track and Field

Crusaders clinch second with strong day two performances Final Results

BETHLEHEM, PA – Ten Crusader seniors concluded their track and field careers on Sunday during the two-day Landmark Conference Championships hosted by Moravian College. With 243.5 points, Susquehanna placed second behind the hosting Greyhounds. Moravian claimed the championship with 277 points while Juniata placed third with 151, Catholic fourth with 52, USMMA fifth with 47.5 and Goucher sixth with 27 points.

In addition to the team’s silver medal finish, freshman Bobby Eppleman (Chester Springs, Pa./Great Valley) received post-meet recognition for his performances over the championship weekend. He mirrored his indoor championship honor of Men’s Rookie of the Year with a second place finish in the decathlon, a fourth place high jump finish and a sixth place spot in the pole vault. He scored 5668 points in the decathlon, merely 162 points off first place. In doing so, Eppleman won the shot and discus events and finished second in five additional events to earn his second place spot on the podium.

On Sunday, sophomore Paul Thistle (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) led the Crusaders on the track tallying two first place finishes to add to his 1,500 meter race win from Saturday. Thistle handily won the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 9:26.12 at Timothy Breidegam Track and Rocco Calvo Field and took the 5,000 meter run in 15:37.96 to finalize his weekend performances.

Thistle did not act alone in backing a strong opening day with additional placing performances on Sunday. Seniors Mike Marr (Muncy, Pa./Warrior Run) and Steve Semanchik (Frackville, Pa./North Schuylkill) captured second and third respectively in the triple jump with distances of 13.17 and 13.04 meters while Justin Mudgett (Sykesville, Md./Century) and Jerry Kane (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) snatched the same 14 points in the hammer throw. Mudgett placed second with a 41.36 meter throw and Kane nabbed third at 41.07 meters.

Susquehanna racked in a handful of points on the track to finish out the two-day championship. First year track athlete, sophomore Keith Howell (North Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills), had a number of strong performances for the orange and maroon. Howell placed second in the 100 meter dash finals in a quick 11.08 seconds and aided in a second place relay finish, while also going 22.39 in the 200 meter dash to earn a third place finish. Susquehanna’s 4x400 relay composed of Nate Wineland (Glenside, Pa./Episcopal Academy), Eric Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East), Howell and Jon Kunhardt (Greenfield, Mass./Frontier Regional), finished in 3:23.86.

In the 400 meter dash, Kunhardt and Johnson finished two-four in 50.14 and 51.06 seconds for the Crusaders as Jalon Orzolak (Bloomsburg, Pa./Homeschooled) snatched seventh in 52 seconds flat. Kunhardt also added a second silver place finish in the 800 meter run, finishing in 1:56.92 while J.J. Brooks (Cogan Station, Pa./Meadowbrook Christian) followed in seventh at 2:00.70.

A senior co-captain, Johnson closed out his Susquehanna track career with a second place spot in the 400 meter hurdles. He crossed the finish line in 55.54 seconds while junior Pat Donegan (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) added a seventh place finish for the Crusaders in 1:00.19. Donegan also snatched an eighth place finish in the 110 high hurdles, behind Semanchik in fifth and Lee Pharo-Frank (Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown Area) in sixth. Semanchik went 15.81 seconds, Pharo-Frank 16.17 seconds and Donegan 16.76 seconds to tally eight points for Susquehanna.

In addition to the aforementioned event scorers, the Crusaders pinched points across the board to tag onto Susquehanna’s overall score. Robert Steffen (New Castle, Del./Caravel Academy) took fifth in the steeplechase and Jentre Deibler (Snydertown, Pa./Shikellamy) flowed in sixth with times of 10:50.14 and 10:52.70, while Orzolak placed sixth in the 200 meter dash in 23.277 and sophomore Justin Young (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) took seventh in the 200 dash finals in 11.81 seconds. Junior Stephen Drosdick (Verona, N.J./Verona) finished in fifth place with 4633 points in the decathlon and the Crusaders 4x100 relay team of Tony McIntosh (Avondale, Pa./Avon Grove), Howell, Young and Orzolak finished in 44.03 seconds, good for third place.