Kutztown Athletics - Track & Field

2007-08

Men's Track & Field Ready for 2007-08 Season

Senior thrower Steve Tyson returns to the Kutztown University men’s track and field team after winning Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference titles in the shot put in both the indoor and outdoor championships.

KU finished seventh (indoor) and eighth (outdoor) in the PSAC Championship events last season.

The Golden Bears also return All-PSAC athletes Cody Hartzler, Ian Clark and Brian Dodds to a well-balanced team.

"We’ll be strong in the throws, hurdles and pole vault," head coach Ray Hoffman said. "And we’ll be young, relying on freshmen, in the sprints and jumps, but we’ll be good."

Dodds, a senior pole vaulter, finished second (indoor) and tied for sixth (outdoor) last season, while Clark, a senior, took third in the pentathlon.

Hartzler, a junior, finished tied for second in the pole vault at the indoor championships and seventh in the high jump at the outdoor event. He also finished seventh in the 1,600 relay, with Steve Hixson.

Six other athletes placed in the top eight at the PSAC Championships last season.

Pat McKeever and Ben Loht led KU to a sixth-place finish in the 3,200 relay in the indoor championships, while John Pyne, along with McKeever, worked together to place seventh in the distance medley relay.

Justin Gibbs (fourth), VonKurt Redley (seventh) and Cory Crider (eighth) placed in the 110 hurdles at the outdoor championships.

Returning to the team this year are three previous all-conference performers. Billy Boorse is was part of KU’s PSAC Indoor Champion 4x800 relay in 2006. James Dart earned All-PSAC honors in the discus at the 2005 championship, placing third. Kendel Dixon was a PSAC Champion in the 4x400 relay at the indoor and outdoor campionships in 2006.

KU will be relying on mostly freshmen for the sprints and jumps. Justin Germari (fr. Birdsboro/Daniel Boone) leads the group of freshmen, coming to KU as one of the top pole vaulters in the country.

The Golden Bears also welcome Peter Selby (fr. Norristown/Norristown), Isaac Schatz (fr. Elliottsburg/West Perry), Robbie Clews (fr. Ashland/North Schuylkill), Mike Kramer (fr. Pine Grove/Pine Grove) and Devin Peterson (fr. Kutztown/Kutztown) and Pat Vymazal (fr. Kutztown/Kutztown).

Vymazal, also a forward on the KU men’s soccer team, will compete in the sprints. Clews and Kramer will compete in the jumps, while Shatz will run the hurdles and the decathlon.

Women’s Track & Field Looks to Build on PSAC Runner-up Finish

Coming off of top three finishes in the Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field PSAC Championships, the women’s team at Kutztown University returns several experienced athletes for the 2007-08 season.

KU, which finished second at the outdoor meet behind Slippery Rock, returns eight place-winners, including Stephanie Williams, a senior who won the PSAC Championship in the 10,000-meter run outdoors. She added second-places in the 3,000 and 5,000.

Williams, an All-PSAC runner, also was among 14 place-winners returning from the indoor team which finished third at the PSAC Championships. Williams finished second in the 5,000 and fourth in the 3,000.

Doofan Tor-Agbidye, a junior, had an impressive sophomore campaign, with six top-eight finishes at the PSAC Championships. At the indoor championships, Tor-Agbidye took third in the 400. She also finished third in the 400 at the outdoor championships and added a sixth-place finish in the 200. Tor-Agbidye also finished in the top eight in three relays.

Katie Quinn, a junior sprinter, finished second in the 200 and third in the 100 at the outdoor championships and was on all three of the place-winning relays. Corri Speakman and Laura Deller earned a spot of the fourth-place 400-meter relay squad.

Other individual place-winners returning from last season are Deller, Joanna Horstmann, Michelle Hughes, Kelly Strickland, Lindsay Runkle and Rachel Weigle.

The latter three all finished in the top eight in the pole vault at the indoor championships, Strickland was second, Runkle was fourth and Weigle tied for seventh.

Hughes, a senior thrower, finished fifth in the shot put and seventh in the weight throw at the indoor championships, while taking sixth at the outdoor championship in the hammer throw.

Deller, a senior sprinter and jumper, finished seventh in the long jump at the indoor championships.

Horstmann, a junior mid-distance runner, finished third (outdoor) and eighth (indoor) in the 800, and also helped the 3,200 relay team finish fourth in the indoor championships. Jessica Schlechter, a sophomore, and Cheryl Dingman, a junior, also were members of the 3,200 relay team.

Becky Webb and Jessica Donovan were part of the sixth-place distance medley relay.

Kutztown also returns runners Lauren Ayars, Samirah Barczynski, Jolene Collins, Kristen Green, Maureen Watson and Heather Spangenberg, along with Alex Butler (long jump) and Rebecca Kerchak (hurdles).

KU welcomes Rebekah Leitzel (fr. Spring Mills/Penns Valley), one of the best javelin throwers in the country, to the team. Distance runners Kristin Cupido (fr. Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan Reg.) and Keri Brown (fr. Southampton, N.J./Seneca) also join KU this season, along with Kayla Greaves (fr. Exton/Downingtown East), who will compete in jumps.