Moravian Men Capture Ninth Straight Landmark Conference Indoor Championship

The Greyhounds pose with the 2018 Landmark Conference Championship plaque and their championship t-shirts.

Posted: Feb 24, 2018

SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's indoor track & field team captured its ninth consecutive Landmark Conference Indoor Championship Saturday at Susquehanna University with a 61.5-point advantage over Elizabethtown College.

The Greyhounds, who have won 10 of 11 conference titles since the Landmark began in 2007-08, scored 199.5 points to 138 scored by the Blue Jays, and the host River Hawks were third with 71 points. The Hounds also had seven individual event winners and two relay teams finish in first place, and Head Coach Jesse Baumann and his staff were selected as the Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.

"The men really stepped up from what we projected and had an awesome meet," stated Baumann. "John Spirk and Zion Howard obviously stand out with earning Landmark honors today, however, it truly was a total team effort from our DMR, to the jumpers setting a number of PRs, to the throwers having a big day. The men were hyped today and it showed. It's really hard to think of anyone who didn't rise up for our team. Furthermore, Coaches D'Ottavio, El Kazzaz, Fergusson, Rahn, and Werner did an incredible job. It was clear we were peaked and ready to perform today. They deserve a ton of the credit for how our team performed today."

Sophomore Greg Jaindl earned the Greyhounds' first individual championship of the day as he won the 5,000-meter run in a time of 15:41.44. The Hounds also picked up 10 points for capturing the distance medley relay with a winning time of 10:55.38 recorded by the quartet of senior Mike Kopach, sophomore Justin Beasley-Turner and freshmen Peter Gingrich and Jarred Kyra.

The Greyhounds also won the 4x200-meter relay with the team of senior Eric Morton, juniors Chris Antoine and Brian Stock and freshman Zion Howard recording a time of 1:32.92. Howard, who was selected as the Landmark Conference Men's Rookie of the Year, would win the 200-meter dash in 22.33 seconds while Morton finished fourth in 23.19 seconds and Stock took eighth in 24.00 seconds. Howard was also the runner-up in the 60-meter dash in 7.01 seconds while Morton was a spot back in 7.10 seconds.

Senior Andrew Mitchell won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.66 while Beasley-Turner finished fourth in 2:00.28. Junior John Spirk won the 60-meter hurdles for the third straight year with a meet-record time of 8.26 seconds, and junior Woodrow Battle was fourth in the finals in 9.03 seconds to earn the Hounds four points. Spirk, who earned Male Track Athlete of the Year honors, also win the 400-meter dash title with a time of 51.18 seconds while Kopach placed eighth in 53.21 seconds.

Junior Scott Goodwin repeated as the champion in the pole vault, clearing a winning height of 4.40 meters (14-5.25) on fewer attempts. Senior Preston Weidner added four points in the event with a fourth-place finish at 3.65 meters (11-11.75) while freshman John Stires picked up a point for a sixth-place showing at 3.50 meters (11-5.75).

Freshman Shane Mastro captured the Landmark Conference title in the shot put with a toss of 13.82 meters (45-4.25), and sophomore Ryan Harper finished in second place with a mark of 13.68 meters (44-6.75), junior Tyler Bergsma took seventh at 12.33 meters (40-5.5) and junior Jon Anthony in eight with a toss of 12.31 meters (40-4.75).

Stock would also earn eight points with a runner-up finish in the long jump with a leap of 6.67 meters (21-10.75) while freshman Michael Elo was third at 6.55 meters (21-6) to garner six points. Sophomore Roland Cash earned half a point for a sixth-place tie in the high jump, clearing 1.68 meters (5-6) while Elo was eighth at 1.63 meters (5-4.25). Elo finished as the runner-up in the triple jump at 13.63 meters (44-8.75) to earn eight points while Cash took third with a distance of 13.46 meters (44-2).

Moravian had three place winners in the 35-pound weight throw led by Harper in second place with a toss of 14.41 meters (47-3.5). Anthony finished third with a mark of 13.76 meters (45-1.75) while Bergsma placed fifth with a toss of 13.46 meters (44-2) and junior Hunter Gibson was eighth at 12,33 meters (40-5.5).

Jaindl would finish the meet with a runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter run in a time of 9:09.40 while senior Devon Harris took third in 9:14.24 and junior Benjamin Smith placed 10th at 9:29.07. Harris also placed third in the mile run on a time of 4:25.00 to earn six points while junior Aaron Hofmann finished 10th in the race with a time of 4:46.85 and Smith was seventh in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 16:20.00. Moravian's 4x400-meter relay squad of Spirk, Kopach, Mitchell and sophomore Evan Lutz finished the meet with a third-place time of 3:30.05.