Apr 5, 2017 By Ty Mceliece for The Yellow Jacket 3 min read

This past weekend, on Saturday, April 1, the Waynesburg men’s track & field team traveled to Bethany College for the Bethany Invitational. The Jackets placed eighth out of 13 teams.

Head coach Jason Falvo thought the team handled the meet well, even with difficult weather conditions.

“I thought the meet went well and that our kids handled the weather well,” said Falvo.

Sophomore Joel Kuzminski finished tenth in the 1,500-meter, crossing the line with at 4:24. Sophomore Jacob Pryor and senior Cody Nail both ran in the 5,000-meter, finishing in the top 10.

Pryor finished fifth with a time of 16:30, while Nail finished in seventh with a time of 16:41. Falvo was impressed with both Pryor’s and Nail’s performance and said it was the best time he’s seen from them.

Junior Matthew Shinkle had a top 10 finish as well. Shinkle was able to take the number seven spot in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58 seconds.

The field events continue to be the strong suit for the Jackets, which has been this season’s trend. Senior James Steele placed in both the long and triple jumps. Steele finished ninth in the long jump with a best mark of six meters, while he also placed third in the triple jump with a jump of 12 meters.

According to Steele, the weather made jumping harder for individuals, but ultimately allowed him to place higher.

“The weather definitely impacted how I jumped,” said Steele. “It affected everyone, and that is why I was able to place as well as I did.”

Freshman Mike Trax took 12th in the long jump with a distance of 5.9 meters.

Senior Brandon VanTine had two top-five finishes on Saturday for the Yellow Jackets. VanTine placed fourth in both the shot put and the javelin. His shot put mark was 13 meters, and in the javelin, it was 45 meters. Player coach Ryan VanTine placed eighth in the shot put with a toss of 12 meters.

Freshman Vincent Giordono and senior Aniellio DeStefano both placed top 10 in the discus. DeStefano took seventh with a throw of 36 meters, while Giordono took eighth with a toss of 36 meters. Freshman Ryan Brownfield placed tenth in the javelin with a throw of 38 meters.

According to Falvo the team has the space to grow, which is a good sign for the future.

“The guys team has a lot of room to grow,” said Falvo. “The talent level is greater than the performance we are putting out, although we’re trending in the right direction.”

The team’s next meet is against Westminster and the University of Mount Union on Saturday, April 8.