Clarion University’s men’s and women’s track and field team will host the annual Clarion Early Bird track and field meet Saturday, March 29, at Memorial Stadium.

"We are once again excited to be hosting what should be a quality early season meet," Clarion’s ninth year head coach Pat Mooney said. "Usually this meet kicks off the outdoor season, but we moved it back a week hoping for better weather conditions."

The Golden Eagles instead opened their outdoor season at Coastal Carolina last weekend with a non-scoring meet.

"It was good to be outside on the track and in the field," Mooney said. "We had some very nice finishes and maybe a glimpse of some good things to come."

Mooney is excited about both the men’s and women’s teams in 2003. Both teams finished last season with 7-1 tri- and quad-meet records. The men’s team also finished 11^th at PSAC’s, while the women’s team was 7^th.

"It was a really nice season," Mooney said. "I believe both teams can do as well if not better this season."

Clarion’s women’s team returns one NCAA qualifier, six PSAC place winner and nine PSAC qualifiers from last season’s team.

"We have a lot of experience coming back," Mooney said. "We really only lost one key performer from last season’s team. That was Kristie Shoemaker our record breaking long and triple jumper."

Carrie Bullman is the returning NCAA qualifier for the Golden Eagles. Bullman, the school record holder in the javelin (143-3), finished 12^th at the NCAA’s last season after finishing second at PSAC’s. Bullman is the anchor of Clarion’s throws, which include three PSAC place winners and five PSAC qualifiers.

"We are very strong in the throws and middle distances," Mooney said. "Six of our nine returning qualifiers come from those two groups."

Julie Evenoski placed third at PSAC’s in the javelin and fifth in the shot put, while Jennifer Klock was second in the shot put. Jessica Crouch (javelin) and Julia Jackson (shot put) also qualified for the PSAC meet.

In the middle distances, Jen Boerner, Bridget Sardo and Evelyn Abiola lead the Golden Eagles

Boerner, who qualified for the PSAC’s in the four events and finished fifth in the 1,500, is coming off a cross country season that saw her earn All-PSAC honors with a 12^th place finish at the conference meet.

Sardo and Abiola are both newcomers to the Clarion program, but both runners performed well during the cross country season. Sardo was an All-PSAC runner with a 14^th place finish, while Abiola was both All-PSAC (11^th place) and All-Region (11^th place).

In the longer distance, the Golden Eagles return Melissa Terwilliger who placed 4^th in the 10,000 at PSAC’s while also qualifying for the event in the 3,000 and 5,000. Other key contributors in the longer distances from the cross country team will be Katie Jarzab (19^th at Regionals), Katie Szafran (28^th at PSAC’s) and Anna Beck (9^th at Regionals while earning All-Region honors).

The other two PSAC qualifiers back for the Golden Eagles are Elissa Till, who finished 5^th in the pole vault, and Melissa Harkins, who qualified in the steeple chase.

While the throws and distance events are solid for the Golden Eagles, Clarion is a little thin in the sprints and the jumps.

Sandy Seidle and Nicole Morrett are two proven returnees in the sprints, and transfer Lynzee Alworth should be the main hurdler for the Golden Eagles.

In the jumps, Clarion will miss Shoemaker, who was third at the PSAC’s in the triple jump and holds the school record in both the triple jump and long jump.

"Basically we have a lot of freshmen who we are hoping can step up and do the job in the jumps," Mooney said.

Nikki Plassio will high jump, triple jump and long jump, while Kristen Werder and Megan Hannahs will triple jump and long jump.

Clarion’s men’s team is also looking to have an exciting season in 2003.

"Last year we had a very good tri- and quad-meet team," Mooney said. "We finished 7-1 in those meets, and my projection this season is about the same. We will probably be a pretty good tri- and quad-meet team."

Mooney’s optimism for the 2003 season stems from having an experienced line-up returning to go along with some promising newcomers.

The Golden Eagles return six PSAC qualifiers from last season’s team including one All-PSAC runner, senior Gerald Smith.

Smith finished second in the 800 last season after taking third in the race in 2001.

"Gerald gives us an experienced runner who has had a lot of success at PSAC’s," Mooney said. "He helps form a solid foundation."

Smith is joined in the Golden Eagles lineup by fellow PSAC qualifiers David Duriancik (steeplechase), Tim Fabrizi (400), John Krol (discus), Brandon Phillips (100 & 200) and Brandon Whitman (110 hurdles). Krol holds the school record in the discus (135-9 ½).

Key newcomers for Clarion include freshmen Dan Alderton and Jarrett Williams in the sprints and sophomore Jayson Vetere, who missed last season with a knee injury, in the sprints and decathlon.

On the track, Clarion strength will be in the sprints.

"We are very strong in the sprints," Mooney said. "Brandon Phillips is a returning PSAC qualifier and we have two very good freshman in Dan Alderton and Jarrett Williams who both qualified for the PSAC indoor championships. If we can get one more person to step up, we could have an outstanding 4x100 relay team."

Whitman gives the Golden Eagles a returning PSAC qualifier in the hurdles, while Smith and Fabrizi give Clarion strong runners in the middle distances.

"We have three pretty solid distance runners in David Duriancik, A.J. Mayernik and Sean Williams," Mooney said.

In the field, the Golden Eagles will be strong in the throws but are looking for some athletes to step up in the jumps. Krol, Rich Reese and Andy Croll will key the throws, while Conrad Warner and Alderton could help out in the jumps.

"Our throws are definitely our strength in the field," Mooney said.

One advantage both Clarion teams might have going into this season, is for the first time in school history the Golden Eagles had an official indoor team.

"We always had an unofficial indoor season," Mooney said. "What we did this year by going official was up the ante. We went to bigger and more competitive meets.

"I am excited heading into the outdoor season because of the indoor season, but at the same time I also know we are not as ready as school with complete indoor facilities. I believe the indoor season will help our runners more than anybody. We don’t have jump pits indoors at Clarion, so the only time our jumpers got to jump was at the meets."

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: Clarion is back in action April 5 at Shippensburg with Ship, Millersville and IUP ... The Golden Eagles also have meets at IUP, Geneva, Slippery Rock and Lock Haven ... Clarion has one other invitational on the schedule, and that is at Baldwin-Wallace April 26 ... The PSAC’s are May 8-10 at Lock Haven.