Trackmen 'sluggish' at Colonial Invite

What the Penn State men's track team wanted this weekend at the Colonial Invitational in Virginia was two days of nice weather to run in. What they got was near-perfect conditions on Friday but also blustery rain that canceled most of Saturday's events.

"The conditions were poor," said Lion coach Harry Groves, "but the events didn't need to be canceled."

One of the highlights for the Lions on Friday was a first-place performance by Neal McNutt in the hammer throw with a distance of 201-3. McNutt's throw was the second-longest in Penn State history. His performance improves his NCAA provisional qualifying position but Groves said it will take a higher mark to qualify.

Carl Walter also helped the Lions' cause in the hammer throw with an eighth-place finish at a distance of 158-1.

Two Lions placed in the top four in the freshman 1,500-meter run. Steve Walsh placed second with a time of 3:56.39 while Bradd Dell Muto placed fourth with a time of 3:56.86.

Despite these accolades, Groves said Friday's performance was marked by "all kinds of problems."

Those problems were apparent in the lukewarm performances in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays. The 4x100 team of John Gorham, Ben Karcz, Drew Lints and Leon Woolford placed just third in its section. The team of John Whelan, Karcz, Lints and Gorham also placed third in its section of the 4x200.

"We did the best that we could do," Karcz said. "A lot of guys who don't specialize in the 4x100 and 4x200 were forced to run it do to injuries."

The sprint medley team of Whelan, Gorham, Karcz and Hubbard successfully placed first in its section and fourth overall.

Not all of Saturday's events were washed out. Kevin Geesaman finished sixth in the 10,000-meter finals. Geesaman's time of 30:57.57 was just three seconds short of the fifth-place finisher.