Pioneer men place first and women take third at Marietta Open #2
Women's 4x400m Relay sets school record

Jan. 26, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's 4x400m Relay set a new school record and the Pioneer men took home the team title to highlight the action at the Marietta Open #2 Saturday (Jan. 26) afternoon inside the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center.

Marietta's men accumulated 159 points and had six individual champions to help it top the five other schools at the competition. West Virginia Wesleyan (151 points) took second and Concord (114 points) was third. The Pioneer women had three individual first place finishes in addition to the first place 4x400m Relay team and just missed out on second place with 122.50 points. West Virginia (148 points) won the meet, while West Virginia Wesleyan (123 points) held off Marietta for second place in the seven-team battle.

Sophomore Brenda Puckett (Preble/Shawnee), senior Sheena Spencer (Marietta), freshman Tara Leach (West Lafayette) and junior Jessi Larrison (Batavia) combined to win the 4x400m Relay with school record performance of 4:16.19. Spencer and Larrison shared the previous mark, which was 4:17.32 and set in March 3, 2007, with two other former teammates.

Marietta once again dominated both sides of the Pole Vault competition. Freshman Seth Beckner (Red House, W.Va./Buffalo) won the men's side with a final mark of 4.11m (13-05.75). Classmate Olivia Holiday (Malta/Morgan) matched his finish by winning the women's side after clearing the final height of 3.05m (10-00.00).

The Pioneers also fared well in the Weight Throw competition. Junior Tiffany Kovacevich (Strongsville) won the women's event with a mark of 12.91m (42-04.25), while senior Rachelle Cole (Sherrodsville/Conotton Valley) took third with a toss of 11.60m (38-00.75). Sophomore Brian Pallini (Belpre) also won the men's side with a mark of 14.70m (48-02.75), while freshman Matt Kirkman (St. Marys, W.Va.) took third with a mark of 12.58m (41-03.25). Kovacevich and Pallini also took third in the Shot Put with marks of 10.32m (33-10.25) and 13.37m (43-10.50), respectively.

Freshman Justin Floyd (Redford, Mich./Redford Union) had a solid day in his first time competing for Marietta. Floyd won the High Jump after clearing 1.88m (6-02.00). He also took third in the Long Jump with a mark of 6.05m (19-10.25). Leach won the women's High Jump with a mark of 4.89m (16-00.50).

Junior Jered Mitchem (Marietta/Warren Local) took second in the High Jump with a mark of 1.57m (5-01.75). Earlier in the meet, Mitchem ran to a first place finish in the 400m Dash, crossing the line in 52.02 seconds.

Freshman Anthony Williams (Columbus/Bishop Hartley) placed first in the 200m Dash with a time of 23.82 second and claimed second in the 400m Dash with a time of 53.55 seconds. Freshman Matt Hickman (St. Marys, W.Va.) took second in the 200m Dash with a time of 23.90 seconds and also placed second in the 55m Dash with a time of 6.71 seconds.

Senior Harrison Potter (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) won the 1,000m Run, finishing with a time of 2:46.45. Freshman Max Kenngott (Akron/St. Vincent-St. Marys) took second with a time of 2:55.99.

Senior Mallory Sinoski (Fairpoint/St. Clairsville) finished third in the 55m Hurdles, crossing the line in 9.71 seconds. She qualified for the finals after running a 9.64 in the prelims.

Marietta also had a pair of runners-up finishes in the 800m Run. Larrison took second in the women's race with a time of 2:28.80, while sophomore Josh Mickle (Madison) finished second in the men's race with a time of 2:05.83.

The Pioneers will return to action on Friday (Feb. 1) evening when they travel to Ada, Ohio, to battle the other nine Ohio Athletic Conference schools in the OAC Relays. The action will begin at 5 p.m.

Junior Jessi Larrison anchored the 4x400m Relay team that set a school record en route to winning on Saturday

Results