TOWSON, Md. --- The Moravian College men's and women's outdoor track & field teams had a total of 22 student-athletes earn All-Conference accolades for their performances at the 2021 Landmark Conference Outdoor Championships last weekend at Susquehanna University.
Head Coach Jesse Baumann and his staff of assistants Jonathan D'Ottavio (throws), Dan McSurdy (hurdles and sprints), Megan Noble (distance), Rob Shaffer (sprints and hurdles, Chris Ossont (jumps) Michael El Kazzaz (pole vault) and Abby Schaffer (pole vault) were selected as the women's Coaching Staffs of the Year.
"Jesse and his staff did another tremendous job this year with both of our track programs especially working through the pandemic," commented Director of Athletics Mary Beth Spirk. "They had to overcome challenges of competing in masks, and the coaching staff figured out a way to put their athletes in positions to compete at their highest level and winning another championship for the women. Jesse's positive influence on his staff and student-athletes is quite evident. We are fortunate to have Jesse as the leader of our men's and women's track programs. Congratulations on receiving another well-deserved Landmark Coaching Staff of the Year honor."
The men's squad, which finished second at the Landmark Championships by 32.5 points, had 10 student-athletes earn 15 All-Conference honors. Leading the Hounds with individual Landmark All-Conference First Team honors was graduate student Greg Jaindl, who was named the Male Track Athlete of the Year after winning the 1,500-meter run, the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second time in his career and the 5,000-meter run.
"This semester has taken a tremendous amount of self-discipline for Greg," noted Baumann. "Since the beginning of March, he's been in New Jersey for his clinical rotation for Athletic Training so we've only seen him for practice once prior to Landmarks and he was able to make it back for the two meets. Everything else with respect to training has been without coaches or teammates present. Maintaining the motivation and discipline is really impressive, but it has all paid off. He's running times in workouts and some longer race pace intervals we've never seen from him, so I wasn't surprised to see how he ran at Landmarks.
"Greg's main goal all year has been for NCAAs," Baumann continued. "We've got a few chances at some last chance meets to get him into the meet, and then I think in late May he has the chance to do something really special."
The Hounds had three other First Team selections with senior Sean McFarland winning the 200-meter dash, senior Shane Mastro capturing the shot put for the second time in his career and sophomore Dan Jenkins taking first in the hammer throw.
The Greyhounds had 10 Second Team selections with runner-up finishes at the championship meet including two by McFarland in the 400-meter dash and in the 4x100-meter relay with freshmen Marco Calantoni, Jared Santos and Matt Shea. Mastro was second in the hammer throw while senior Peter Gingrich in the 800-meter run, sophomore Liam Duffy in the 10,000-meter run and junior Michael Lerch in the 3,000-meter steeplechase were all runners-up.
The women's squad won its 13th conference outdoor title this past Saturday, and the Hounds have won the meet every year that the Landmark Conference has hosted it. The Greyhounds had 12 student-athletes garner 19 All-Conference nods.
Sophomore Helen Davis won the 100-meter dash while sophomore Crystal Robinson captured the 200-meter dash title. The duo combined with senior Camaryn Wheeler and graduate student Jordan Luciano to win the 4x100-meter relay. Senior Natalie Novotni took first in the 5,000-meter run while junior Natalie Stabilito won the 1,500-meter run. Junior Alyssa Lambert captured the 400-meter hurdles while freshman Lexi Groff was first in the high jump.
Davis was also second in the 200-meter dash while Robinson was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash and in the 4x400-meter relay while Wheeler, senior Morgan Weaver and sophomore Rachel Byrne. Lambert took second in the 100-meter hurdles while senior Tyleen Lopez was the runner-up in the long jump and freshman Kinsey Metzger placed second in the discus.
To view the entire 2021 Landmark All-Conference Track & Field Teams, visit https://landmark.prestosports.com/sports/track/2020-21/releases/17112021-outdoor-track-awards.
