CORTLAND, N.Y. --- The Moravian College men's track & field squad scored 27 points Thursday to finish 15th of 35 teams at the 2019 All-Atlantic Region Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by SUNY Cortland after the second and final day of competition Thursday.
Senior John Spirk garnered 12 points from two events including eight points for a runner-up finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a PR time of 53.16 seconds. That time took nearly seven tenths of a second off of his previous PR, is the seventh fastest time in school history and moved Spirk to 11th on the Track & Field Results Reporting System list in all of NCAA Division III this season. The cut off for qualifying times and distances in midnight Thursday, and the top 20 men in each event will head to the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championships next week. Spirk likely qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in what would have been the final race of his collegiate career.
Spirk also scored four points with a fifth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdle finals with a time of 14.77 seconds, just one one-hundredth of a second off of his PR in that race. Junior Justin Beasley-Turner earned six points for a third place in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.50 while sophomore Peter Gingrich finished 12th in the race in 1:56.64. Senior Devon Harris won his heat and was 12th overall in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:07.89, and the trio of Beasley-Turner, Gingrich and Harris combined with freshman Dominic DeRafelo for the final four points on the track as the quartet finished fifth in the 4x800-meter run in a time of 7:52.56, the second best time in school history.
Sophomore Shane Mastro garnered Moravian's final five points with a pair of top eight finishes in the throws on Thursday. Mastro took sixth in the shot put with a toss of 14.49 meters (47-6.5), and he was seventh in the discus with a mark of 42.47 meters (139-4). Junior Ryan Harper took 15th in the shot put with a distance of 13.50 meters (44-3.5) while sophomore Derek Scott was 11th in the discus at 41.09 meters (134-9) and senior Jon Anthony was 14th at 40.73 meters (133-7) in his final career event. Senior Brian Stock wrapped up his career with a 25th place finish in the long jump with a leap of 6.05 meters (19-10.25).
The Greyhounds will find out on Saturday the official list of qualifiers for the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championships being hosted by The University of Mount Union and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio beginning on Thursday, May 23.
