Erin Richard

Chris Clark

CLARION SET FOR PSAC CHAMPIONSHIPS FRIDAY & SATURDAY

            The Clarion University men’s and women’s track and field teams are set for the 2006 PSAC Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday at California.

            Eighteen Golden Eagles have qualified for the championships including five men and 13 women.

WOMEN’S TEAM KEYING ON IMPROVING TIMES

            The goal for Clarion’s women’s team is to have each athlete improve on their qualifying times, and if that happens, points will take care of themselves.

            “It is still too early in our team building process to expect a particular performance at PSAC’s,” second-year head coach Daniel Caulfield said. “This year, we will look to see how everyone improves on their individual times and for some to see how they improve on national qualifying times. In the coming season, we will have different intentions than we do this year.”

            The Golden Eagles strength at the meet will lie in the middle to longer distance where Clarion has eight runner ranked in the Top 10 in the PSAC going into the meet.

            “The keys to people finishing where they are ranked at this point is being healthy,” Caulfield said. “Their bodies and systems have gone through a lot of pain and hard work. We have backed off training the last couple of weeks, and technically they should be faster and prepared to go faster. But that isn’t always the case.”        

            Clarion’s strongest event should be the 800 where three runners are listed among the Top 9 in the PSAC.

            Junior Holly Urban has run the fastest time in the conference this year (2:16.26), senior Keisha Perry has the fourth fastest time (2:17.33) and freshman Kate Ehrensberger is ranked ninth (2:21.46).

            Urban qualified for the NCAA Indoor National Meet after finishing second in the 800 at Indoor PSAC’s in February.

            Urban is one of two Eagles ranked No. 1 going into the PSAC’s. Sophomore Erin Richard has the top time in the conference in the 3,000 in a school record time of 9:59.56, which is also an NCAA Provisional qualifying time (17^th in the nation).

            Richard, who won the PSAC Indoor title in the 3,000 while taking second in the mile, will also run the 1,500 at PSAC’s, an event she is ranked ninth in a time of 4:47.3. She is also an NCAA Provisional qualifier in the 5,000 with the 10^th best time in the country (school record 17:06.01). She won’t run the event at PSAC’s but is nearly a shoe-in for the national meet, according to Caulfield.

            “That changes the philosophy for her at PSAC’s,” Caulfield said. “She will do well in the races she is running at PSAC’s, but she would probably have placed much higher in the 5,000.”

            Junior Tasha Wheatley is also a multiple qualifier for the Golden Eagles. She is ranked fifth in the 3,000 Steeplechase in a school-record time of 11:19.62, which is also an NCAA Provisional Qualifying time (20^th). She finished in a tie for sixth in the event at last year’s PSAC’s. Wheatley, who finished second in the 5,000 and seventh in 3,000 at Indoor PSAC’s,  has also qualified for the 3,000 (10:40.89), although a decision on whether she will run the event isn’t finalized.

            Clarion has three other multiple qualifiers.

            Junior Sonya Swanson has qualified in the 100, 200 and 400. She is ranked fifth in the 200 in a school record time of 25.80 and ninth in the 400 (58.93).

            Freshman Diane Kress has the fourth longest Triple Jump in the PSAC this year (37-10 ½) and has also qualified in the Long Jump (16-10 ¼). Kress finished third in the Triple Jump at Indoor PSAC’s.

            Senior Katie Jarzab has the ninth fastest time in the 10,000 (38:55.95) and also has qualified in the 5,000 (18:30.06), an event she might run. She finished sixth in the 5,000 at Indoor PSAC’s.

            Additional qualifiers on the track for the Golden Eagles include sophomore Brittani Card (16.27) and freshman Andrea Strickenberger (15.98) in the 100 hurdles, and junior Autumn Shaffer (12:26.8) in the 3,000 Steeple Chase.

            Clarion also has two additional field qualifiers.

            Junior Erin Jones has qualified in the pole vault (9-6), while sophomore Nicole Lockwood has qualified in the discus (116-4).

CLARK, WILLIAMS TO LEAD CLARION MEN’S TEAM

            While Clarion has only five men’s athletes qualified for PSAC’s, two of them – sophomore Chris Clark and senior Jarrett Williams – are multiple qualifiers.

            “We don’t have the numbers to worry about a high conference placing,” Caulfield said. “We are looking for individual placing. We lost to injury a couple of kids who would have placed like Dan Patton and B.J. Roth, but we are expecting good things from Chris Clark and Jarrett Williams.”

            Clark has qualified for the meet in both the 5,000 and 10,000, events in which he is also an NCAA Provisional Qualifier. At the PSAC’s he will only run the 5,000 where he is ranked fourth in the conference in 20^th in the nation in a school record time of 14:32.37. He is ranked second in the PSAC and 14^th in the country in the 10,000 in a school record time of 30:23.51. Clark finished fourth in the 3,000 and seventh in the 5,000 at Indoor PSAC’s.

            “Chris is much better in the 10K, but he just ran it in the last 14 days,” Caulfield said. “It’s not beneficial for him to run it again at PSAC’s.”

            Caulfield has high hopes for Clark, who used a tremendous cross country season as a springboard into the track season.

            Clark become the first Eagle since 1999 to earn All-PSAC honors in cross country finishing 10^th in the Fall. He was also the first Top 10 finisher for Clarion since 1986.

            “Cross Country was definitely a spring board for him doing well,” Caulfield said. “When he started training last summer, he hoped he could place at a conference meet and have a shot at a school record by his senior season. When he started running with people who had been All-Americans, he realized his hard work was worth something. Now he is beating people he was looking up to. The sky is the limit for him.”

            Williams has qualified in both the 100 (11.13) and 200 (22.73) and is ranked seventh in the PSAC in the 100.

            “Jarrett is running a lot of personal records late in the season,” Caulfield said. “That is a good sign, especially for a senior. It means he really has prepared well mentally and physically.”

            The three additional PSAC qualifiers for the Golden Eagles are sophomore Mark Simbeck in the 400 hurdles (56.96), junior Ben Bevevino in the long jump (21-11 ½) and freshman Sean McFarland in the 5,000 (15:34.99).

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Clarion’s women’s team is coming off a sixth-place finish at PSAC Indoors, while the men’s team was 12^th … Clarion’s women’s team was 12^th at PSAC’s last year, while the men’s team didn’t score … The NCAA Division II meet will be May 25-27 in Emporia, Kansas.