March 28, 2009

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The York College men’s track & field team completed the two-day Battleground Relays hosted by the University of Mary Washington on Saturday. The Spartans secured four first-place finishes and a slew of top-five performances.
      York’s best showing of the meet came from the 4x100 relay team of Gabe Henise (York, Pa./Dallastown), Ryan Liggitt (Windsor, Pa./Red Lion), Thomas Kentouris (Belle Harbor, N.Y./Saint Edmund's Prep), and Darren McKoy (Baltimore, Md./Mount Saint Joseph). The foursome combined for a school-record time of 42.91 en route to a first-place finish.
      Ben Edwards (Howell, N.J./Howell) continues to display his impressive athleticism in the hurdles as he won the 400 event with a solid 57.40. Teammate Ryan Campbell (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) finished third in the event with a 59.93.
      In the high jump, Brandon McLaughlin (Cape May Court House, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) gave the Spartans yet another victory by leaping a meet-best distance of 6’ 0.75.” McLaughlin also took the runner-up spot in the 110 hurdles, clocking a time of 16.99.
      Mark Ksiezoploski’s (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) stellar freshman campaign continued to roll along Saturday as he won the pole vault with a height of 13’ 6” while he finished just behind McLaughlin in the 110 hurdles with a time of 17.15.
      The Spartans fared extremely well in the 100-meter dash, led by McKoy. The freshman posted the best preliminary time (11.36) before taking second in the finals with a strong 11.30. Fellow sprinters Liggitt and Henise posted times of 11.41 and 11.55 to take fourth and fifth, respectively.
      York continued to rack up second-place finishes as Ryan Janes (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) secured the #2 spot in the 1,500 meters. Janes’ time of 14:10.82 put him one slot ahead of teammate Andrew Friesma (Adamstown, Pa./Cocalico) who clocked-in at 4:14.05.
      In the 3,000 meters, Jason Hinkle (York, Pa./Eastern York) led the Spartans with a solid 9:20.87 time to secure a second-place spot, while Javier Skwara (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills) finished tenth with a 10:51.61. The steeplechase version of the 3,000 meters saw Patrick Lestrange (Green Brook, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) notch second by crossing the finish line in a time of 10:13.00.
      Paul Wallace (Denver, Pa./Cocalico) posted the Spartans’ top time in the 10,000 meters. Wallace recorded yet another second place finish for the Green and White with a 35.23.97 time.
      York’s 4x200 and 4x800 relay squads both recorded second-place times by running 1:31.64 and 8:04.60, respectively.
      Aside from Ksiezopolski’s victory in the pole vault, Steve Kinnear (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) recorded a height of 12’ in the event to take fourth.
      Jason Kane (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) put up a pair of solid performances in the distance jumps. Kane recorded second in the triple jump with a trio of bounds equating to 40’ 1.5” while Edwards finished with a distance of 39’ 1” for fifth. Kane then took sixth in the long jump with a leap of 18’ 4.5.”
      In the hammer throw, Gary Rynier (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) recorded a toss of 136’10” and then registered a 39’ 3” distance in the shot put for fourth place, while taking ninth in the discus (102’ 04”). Zack Raywood (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) notched a third-place finish of his own by launching the javelin 149 feet. Raywood also took sixth in the hammer (110’ 11”) and team-best seventh in the discus (112’ 9”). Ryan Diggelman’s (Salt Point, N.Y./Arlington) 35’ 4.5” toss in the shot put gave him sixth place for the event while he also took eighth in the discus with a 107’ 9” toss. Blair Walborn (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg Area) took sixth in the javelin (132’ 11”) while Steven Goldberg (Sparta, N.J./Harrison) came in eight in the hammer (98’ 11”).
      The Spartans return to action on Saturday, April 4. The Green and White will head to the Goucher College Classic which begins at 10:00 am.

MEET RESULTS

Photo of Thomas Kentouris (left) and Jason Kane (right) courtesy of Charlie Covell