Trackmen get jump start at Thorpe relays

By MATT WONG
Collegian Staff Writer

Competing for the first time in its outdoor season, the Penn State men's track and field team made a smooth transition from an indoor season that saw it finish a disappointing last place at Big Ten Championships.

Penn State coach Harry Groves was pleased with his team's performance at the Jim Thorpe Invitational, hosted Saturday by the Nittany Lions.

"It was a good-start type of thing," Groves said. "In indoors you get spoiled in terms of the wind and the weather, so this meet helped us make the transition."

But nothing spoiled the Lions' performances at this open invitational. Although the meet consisted of mostly Lions, Groves was still very satisfied with his team's scores.

Leading the way were Ben Karcz and Chris McGinnis, who both captured wins in two events. Karcz took first in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 52.5 seconds and also won the 110-meter high hurdles, running in a time of 15.4.

McGinnis finished first in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:00.5 and won the 5,000-meter in 15:28.5.

Also, Ryan Olkowski got out to an impressive start in the high jump, clearing the bar at seven feet. John Gorham won the 200-meter dash in a time of 21.7, Joe Hubbard took first in the 400-meter race with a time of 50.2, and Bradd Del Muto won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:20.2.

The Lions also finished strong in the field events as Carl Wolter won the hammer throw with 166-7 feet, Dave Matson took the shot put competition by launching it 52-2¾ and Craig Parsons pole vaulted 13-6. Also, Troy Burkholder won the javelin, hitting a mark of 260-3, and Dan Diaz won the discus with a mark of 162-4.

In addition, the Lions took first in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

Co-captain Hubbard is confident in the Lions' abilities and is already looking forward to how well the team can perform in big-time meets like the Penn Relays at the end of April.

But first it will look to use its early preparation and success next weekend at the Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va.