BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's track & field squad won its ninth title by capturing the 2017 Landmark Conference Outdoor Championship after the second day of competition hosted by the Greyhounds at Timothy Breidegam Track and Rocco Calvo Field on Sunday.
The Greyhounds registered a 91-point win as Moravian had 254 points while Elizabethtown College was second with 163 points. Moravian had nine individual champions on the second day of the meet as well as a relay squad earn 10 points.
"We had some real standout performances this weekend from a number of athletes," stated Head Coach Jesse Baumann. "Rob and Mike cemented their spots for NCAAs with great throws in the javelin, Greg scored in three throws, Kahron capped off a great career for us with another 18 points in the jumps, Roland had a great meet in the triple jump. Our sprint squad was tremendous, especially Cory in the 400 and all four in the 100. Spirk was strong as always, and we had some big performances in the distances from guys like Greg and Devon. As with the women, it was a true team effort and the men did a great job of performing when it counted the most."
Sophomore John Spirk was a two-event winner and also selected as the Co-Track Athlete of the Year. Spirk won the 110-meter high hurdles for a second straight year in an ECAC qualifying time of 15.13 seconds, and he also captured the 400-meter hurdles for a second consecutive spring in an ECAC qualifying time of 56.13 seconds.
Junior Eric Morton won the 100-meter dash in 11.15 seconds as the Hounds went 1-2-3-4 in the race with freshman Billy DiLolle in second in 11.21 seconds, senior Austin Gardener in third at 11.46 seconds and senior Matt Barnett in fourth with a time of 11.61 seconds. Senior Cory Taggert won the 400-meter dash in a meet record and ECAC qualifying time of 48.69 seconds, the fourth fastest time in school history. Morton, DiLolle, Gardener and Taggert also combined to with the 4x100-meter relay in an ECAC qualifying time of 42.82 seconds.
Freshman Greg Jaindl won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:01.41 while sophomore Peter Milewski was fifth in 10:25.64 and junior Josh Toth finished seventh at 10:52.41.
Junior Robert Condo captured first place in the javelin to start the day with an ECAC qualifying toss of 62.40 meters (204-9) while senior Michael Guarino was second with an ECAC qualifying distance of 62.38 meters (204-8). Condo and Guarino moved to eighth and ninth on the Track & Field Results Reporting System list with their throws, and the top 20 males in each event on the TFRRS list will compete at the 2017 NCAA Division III National Championships hosted by the University of Mount Union later this month.
Senior Kahron Walker captured his fourth straight high jump title at an ECAC qualifying height of 1.93 meters (6-4) while freshman Roland Cash won the triple jump with an ECAC qualifying distance of 13.42 meters (44-0.5). Freshman Ryan Harper took first in the shot put with a mark of 13.35 meters (43-9.75) while senior Greg Cahill was second at 12.88 meters (42-3.25) and sophomore Tyler Bergsma finished fifth at 12.58 meters (41-3.25).
In other track results, Gardener took third in the 200-meter dash in 22.97 seconds while Morton was fourth in 23.00 seconds and DiLolle finished fifth in 23.11 seconds. Sophomore Woodrow Battle was sixth in the 110-meter high hurdles in 17.46 seconds while senior Jordan Sweeney was seventh in 17.48 seconds and freshman Nicholas Cephas placed eighth in 18.41 seconds. Sweeney was also fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in 59.96 seconds.
Sophomore Devon Harris was the runner-up in the 800-meter in a time of 1:55.75 while freshman Gavin Kemery was fifth in the 5,000-meter run in 15:47.08. Moravian's 4x400-meter relay squad of Sweeney, Barnett, Taggert and Walker was sixth in 3:53.64.
Moravian is slated to return to action on Monday, May 15 at the Swarthmore College Last Chance Meet beginning at 4:00 p.m.