Gwynedd Valley, Pa. – (12/10/2021) – The track and field indoor season began today, Friday, December 10, for Gwynedd Mercy University who visited Ursinus College for the Bow Tie Invitational. Senior
Siobhan McShea (Ephrata, Pa.) headlined the Griffin in the women's events with her performances in the Shot Put (20
th, 7.52 meters), High Jump (5
th, 1.3 meters), Long Jump (4
th, 4.61 meters), 60-Meter Hurdles (5
th, 10.49), and the 800-Meter (12
th, 2:47.89). Meanwhile, the Griffin men enjoyed a Top-10 finish from sophomore
Melvin Mathew (North Wales, Pa.) in the 60-Meter Hurdles (7
th, 11.91), from junior
Thomas Balla (Trevose, Pa.) in the 5,000-Meter (8
th, 17:42.51), and from sophomore
Brandon Soubik (Lansdale, Pa.) in the 60-Meter Dash (9
th, 7:41), 200-Meter Dash (10
th, 24.24), and 400-Meter Dash (10
th, 55.44).
McShea was one of three Griffins to record a personal record in the Shot Put as siblings, junior
Meghan LoStracco (Chalfont, Pa.) and graduate
Matt LoStracco (Chalfont, Pa.) respectively placed 24
th (6.54 meters) and 17
th (10.15 meters) in the women's and men's fields. Sophomore
Alissa LaGrotte (Souderton, Pa.) also threw the rock; she placed 21
st with a toss of 7.44 meters. In the Long Jump, she finished 10 spots behind McShea with her leap of 3.02 meters (14
th). Senior
Caitlyn Behan (Trappe, Pa.) matched her personal best in the Pole Vault with her sixth-place height of 2.15 meters.
Additionally for the women, freshman
Jenna Clarency (Philadelphia, Pa.) placed 10
th (1:07.87) in the 400-Meter Dash, while juniors
Alicia Bennett (Philadelphia, Pa.) and
Kristen Dougher (Saylorsburg, Pa.) respectively placed 13
th (6:15.97) and 20
th (6:53.78) in the Mile. Bennett's time was also a personal record.
The Griffin men also received a 13
th-place (2:19.42) effort in the 800-Meter from sophomore
Karam Aldarwich (Dresher, Pa.) and respective 15
th (5:21.14) and 20
th-place (5:56.12) runs in the Mile from junior
Kevin Johnston (Hatboro, Pa.) and sophomore
Israel Atonal'Varela (Warminster, Pa.). In addition to Soubik, junior
Ilya Soulaimanov (Newtown, Pa.) finished 27
th (7.94) in the 60-Meter Dash.
Gwynedd Mercy University placed eighth both the men's (8
th, 4:01.65) and women's (8
th, 4:53.09) 4x400-Meter Relay.
The Griffin track and field teams with compete next in 2022 as they travel to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Friday, January 21 (2:00 p.m.) for the New York City Gotham Cup.
