Men's Track & Field

Golden Bears shake off rust with strong
showing at Golden Bear Invite

KUTZTOWN, PA (January 15, 2010) – The Kutztown University men's indoor track and field team placed 17 athletes at fourth place or better at the Golden Bear Invitational. They were led by sophomore Matt Cannell (Douglassville/Daniel Boone) and freshman Sean Gentry (Lansdale/North Penn) on Friday afternoon at Keystone Fieldhouse. Meet Results | KU Results

Cannell found himself placing among the top in all three events that he participated in individually. He had a second place finish in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.72 and followed that performance up with a fourth place finish in the 200-meter dash (23.51).

But it was his long jump of 22 feet one and a half inches that highlighted Cannell's stellar performance in the teams first action since the Bucknell Invitational on December 5th.

Cannell discovered his jumping talent on the field - not the jumping pit, but on the gridiron. In high school at football practice one day, Cannell won a vertical leap competition and got his mind on joining track and field. That day was just the start of Cannell's dominance.

"I am pleased with my showing today in the long jump," said Cannell. "I wouldn't say that my jump is perfect, I don't think there is a perfect jump. Typically, the winner is the person that gets closest to that perfect jump."

Gentry, also jumped to a first place finish for the Golden Bears, reaching a height of 6 feet, six inches in the high jump. In only his second collegiate competition, Gentry finished in the top spot for the second straight time in this event.

Gentry also scored third place finishes in the long jump (21-11 3/4) and triple jump (43-04 1/2).

Justin Germani (Birdsboro/Daniel Boone) gave the Golden Bears their third first-place finish, all coming from field events. The junior grabbed the top spot with a height of 15 feet, seven and three quarter inches in the pole vault. Senior Will Hodges (Levittown/Neshaminy) placed just behind Germani in third place with a vault of 14 feet, seven and one quarter inches.

"I am very pleased with how our men performed today, it was a solid performance all around," said head coach Ray Hoffman. "They competed very hard, especially after that long of a break and being in their first major action of the year.

"Gentry had a great day on the jumps, and Cannell just had a good all around day. Germani was another one who had a good day, you could tell that he was putting in the time and effort over the break."

Another solid showing in the field came from the arm of Jason Rebuck (Southampton/William Tennent). Rebuck placed third in the shot put with a distance of 44 feet, eight and three quarter inches. He finished fourth in the 35-pound weight toss with a throw of 50 feet, 10 and three quarter inches. Hale Paul (Elkins Park/Cheltenham) followed Rebuck in shot put with a distance of 43 feet, five inches to place fourth.

On the track, Kevin Rodgers (Clifton Heights/Upper Darby), Ryan Reich (Oley/Oley Valley), Eli Weeks (Pottstown/Owen J. Roberts) and Craig Sherwood (Perkasie/Pennridge) all finished in the top three.

Rodgers placed second in the 3,000 meter, posting a time of 9:09.91, while Reich took second in the mile with a time of 4:29.85. In the 800 meter, Weeks took third place with a time of 2:04.30.

Sherwood, competing in the heptathlon, finished with 4,125 to take third place. He was followed by freshman Jacob Murray (Pine Grove/Pine Grove) with 3,751 points for fourth place.

Kori Meshaw (Columbia/Hempfield) had a fourth place finish in the 400 meter (51.84) and took fourth in the 4x400 relay. Meshaw was joined Joe Tavormina (Hellertown/Saucon Valley), Matt Reightler (Bethlehem/Northampton) and Shaun Crump (Boyertown/Boyertown) to finish with a time of 3:33.04.

Shane Harvey (Pattenburg, NJ/North Hunterdon), Percell Berry (Norristown/Methacton), Jonathan Byrne (Red Hook, NJ/Red Hook) and Weeks followed in fourth in the relay with a time of 3:34.80.

"This is a very focused group of individuals," said Hoffman. "I can see that the men want to improve on their finishes at the PSAC's last year. They are dedicated and putting in the time and effort it takes to better themselves."

The Golden Bears will return to action on Saturday January 23rd at the Princeton Invitational.

KU Men’s Results
200-meter: 5th place – Matt Cannell 23.51; 7th place Greg Crawford 24.02
400-meter: 4th place – Kori Meshaw 51.84
500-meter: 7th Jonathan Bryne 1:10.93
800-meter: 3rd place – Eli Weeks 2:04.30
3,000-meter: 2nd place – Kevin Rodgers 9:09.91
55-metter HH: 5th place - T.J. Longmore 7.86; 6th place - Shane Harvey 8.05
55-meter dash: 2nd place – Matt Cannell 6.72
mile: 2nd place – Ryan Reich 4:29.85; 7th place – Matt Reightler 4:52.68
4X400 relay: 3rd place (Joe Tavormina, Matt Reightler, Kori Meshaw, Shaun Crump) 3:33.04; 4th place (Shane Harvey, Percell Berry, Jonathan Byrne, Eli Weeks) 3:34.80
35-lb. weight: 4th place – Jason Rebuck 50-10 3/4; 5th place – Max Stramara 47-11; 8th Place 43-06 1/2
Heptathlon: 3rd place – Craig Sherwood 4,125 points; 4th place - Jacob Murray 3,751 points
High Jump: 1st place – Sean Gentry 6-06.00
Long Jump: 1st place – Matt Cannell 22-01 1/2; 3rd place – Sean Gentry 21 11 3/4; 7th place - Robert Clews 20 04 1/4 
Pole Vault: 1st place – Justin Germani 15-07 3/4; 3rd place – William Hodges 14-07 1/4
Shot Put: 3rd place – Jason Rebuck 44-08 3/4; 4th place – Hale Paul 43-05; 6th place – Mike Norris 42-04 3/4; 7th place - Max Stramara 42-00 1/2
Triple Jump: 3rd place - Sean Gentry 43-04 1/2

--KU--