NEW ORLEANS, La. --- The Moravian College men's and women's track & field teams had four student-athletes named as United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region honorees in six events.
The USTFCCCA is in its fourth year named All-Region selections for indoor and outdoor track & field at the NCAA Division III level after having All-Region honors in cross country for a number of years. For a student-athlete to earn All-Region honors, an athlete must be ranked in the top-5 of an individual event in the region according to the final Track & Field Results Reporting System data or be part of a top-3 relay team. Moravian is part of the Mideast Region.
The Greyhound men had two honorees with junior Greg Jaindl earning honors in both the 1,50-meter run and the 3,000-meter steeplechase and senior John Spirk in both the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. Jaindl ran a PR time of 3:3.54 in the 1,500-meter run at the Coach P Invitational on April 13, and he set the school record in the steeplechase with a time of 9:03.89 at the Swarthmore College Final Qualifier Meet on May 13. Spirk recorded a top time 14.77 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles on May 16 at the All-Atlantic Region Outdoor Track & Field Championships at SUNY Cortland, and he added a PR and the fastest time in the Mideast Region in the 400-meter hurdles at 53.16 seconds on the same day. Jaindl in the steeplechase and Spirk in the 400-meter hurdles have qualified for the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships and are set to run in the preliminaries on Thursday, May 23 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
"I couldn't be happier about how the season for both of these guys went," stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "John has been agonizingly close to NCAAs three straight seasons now and to finally breakthrough the glass up in New York was as much a relief about what felt he was owed, as it was exhilarating. He's been the dominant hurdler in our conference for four years, so what a great way to cap off a remarkable season. As for Greg, he's continued a meteoric rise, and as with John, it sort of felt like he was cheated indoors by not making NCAAs, so having him annihilate the time he ultimately needed at Swarthmore was great to see. He's been remarkable in the 1500 this year as well, and had he chosen to pursue that event, I have no doubt he could have been going to Cleveland in that as well."
The Moravian women's team also had two student-athletes named to All-Region with junior Carly Danoski in the 800-meter run and senior Anna Osman in the 400-meter hurdles. Danoski set a school record in the event with a time of 2:14.13 back on February 8, and she has qualified for the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships and is set to run in the preliminaries of the 800-meter run on Friday, May 24 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
"Carly has consistently been one of the best 800 runners in Division 3 for two years now, and although her season didn't have the huge breakout either of us were hoping for, she steadily rose in the 400 and was remarkably consistent in the 800 and 1500 all year," noted Baumann. "She deserves to be headed out to NCAAs in the 800 and we couldn't be happier for her. With Anna, she's been one of the most talented hurdlers and 400 runners in the region for her career, and it's extremely unfortunate her whole senior season was hampered by a foot injury. It's a testament to her toughness and talent that she was able to earn this honor and Landmark Athlete of the Year accolades despite missing about two months and having to routinely alter training in the other times due to the injury. She's been an incredible leader and athlete for us, and this is a very fitting recognition for her to end her career with."
To view the entire USTFCCCA All-Region honoree list, visit http://www.ustfccca.org/2019/05/featured/2019-ncaa-diii-outdoor-track-field-ustfccca-all-region.
