Susquehanna Women's Track & Field

Crusaders capture silver at Landmark Championships Final Results

BETHLEHEM, PA – Twelve Crusader seniors concluded their track and field careers on Sunday during the two-day Landmark Conference Championships hosted by Moravian College. With 204 points, Susquehanna placed second behind the hosting Greyhounds. Moravian claimed the championship with 307.5 points while Catholic placed third with 92, Juniata fourth with 88, Goucher fifth with 58.5 and USMMA sixth with 20 points.

In addition to the team’s silver medal finish, two individuals received post-meet recognition for their performances over the championship weekend. Freshman Alycia Woodruff (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) mirrored her indoor championship honor of Women’s Rookie of the Year with two first place finishes complimented by a third place 800 meter run time. Senior Ashley Moormann (Stanhope, NJ/Pope John XXIII) was also acknowledged for her strong throwing performances. Capturing two victories and placing third twice, Moormann received recognition as the Women’s Field Athlete of the Year for the outdoor season.

On Sunday, four Crusaders captured gold medal performances at Timothy Breidegam Track and Rocco Calvo Field. One of an uncountable number of personal records performed throughout the weekend was Robin O’Hara’s (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) first place finish in the heptathlon. O’Hara, a senior, broke her own school record of 3,620 points set at the Middle Atlantic Championships in May 2007, finishing with 3,673 on Sunday. She won six of the seven events en route to victory.

On her last throw as a Crusader athlete, Moormann broke out a 35.77 meter hammer throw to edge into first place and win the event. Three teammates followed Moormann to tally 24 points in the hammer throw for the orange and maroon. Freshman Caitlin Anderson (Islesboro, Maine/Islesboro Central) captured third with 32.70 meters, Samantha Cartwright (Cranford, N.J./Cranford) finished fourth with a 31.87 meter throw and senior Julie Yingling (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) took sixth with a 27.12 meter mark.

Not only did the veteran Crusaders perform well over the weekend, a number of freshmen proved to be a threat for the years to come. In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, freshman Sarah Spearing (Wenham, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) was victorious racing a time of 12:39.46 to earn double digit points for the Crusaders, while Woodruff won the 5,000 meter run in 18:23.20. Shedding 20 seconds of her previous best time, sophomore Cait Pflaum (York, Pa./West York) produced a fourth place finish of 19:27.76, less than 24 hours after placing second in the 10,000 meter run. In addition to her 5,000 win, Woodruff placed third in the 800 meter run with a 2:23.06 finish.

Crusader seniors stepped up in the track events also, as Sarah Burkhardt (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Schaumburg) captured fourth in the 400 meter dash, followed by Kathleen Peck (Lebanon, Pa./ELCO) in sixth and Amanda West (Hughesville, Pa./Hughesville) in eighth. Burkardt finished in 1:02.13, while Peck ran 1:03.42 and West finished in 1:07.68. Peck also added an eighth place finish in the 200 meter dash finals with a time of 27.55 seconds.

O’Hara led the way for the Crusaders in the 100 meter hurdles finals with a 15.95 second finish good for third place. Junior Heather Cecchini (Wantage, N.J./High Point Regional) finished in eight with a time of 17.74 and later placed seventh in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:10.93.

In the triple jump Susquehanna snatched fourth and eighth place finishes from Burkhardt and Patti Maye (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson), respectively. Burkhart finished her jumping career with a 10.22 meter performance, while Maye leaped 9.26 meters to edge into eighth place.

Two seniors and two freshmen filled the spikes of Susquehanna’s 4x100 meter relay to earn themselves a second place finish. Meghan Kelly (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area) left the blocks to pass off to senior Erica Genarria (Kulpmont, Pa./Mount Carmel) who handed off to Peck before O’Hara anchored the Crusader’s 50.46 second finish. Susquehanna’s 4x400 meter relay team also placed in the competition with a 4:17.21 finish good for fourth place.