Bullets continue to improve as they look towards conferences
Photo credit: Gettysburg Office of Athletic Communications
By Andy Milone, Web Content Editor
Senior captain Nate Wojick won a highly contested 800 meter run as he took down a contest filled with Division II and III athletes at the Shippensburg Paul Kaiser Classic this past Saturday.
His time of 1:52.24 strengthened his first place lead in the Centennial Conference, but it also pushed him to 15th in all of Division III across the nation. The team will compete at the Conference Championships next weekend.
“We have always had a lot of success in the middle distance events, such as the 4x800m,” said Wojick. “I think that the relays are going to provide us with some solid points this year: the 4x100m, 4x400m and the 4x800m.”
There were other results from the weekend which pushed the Bullets into better standing within the conference. It was first-year Max Borchert who took a fifth place finish to his resume and lowered his collegiate personal best to 56.44. This was good enough for a fifth place finish and now he currently has the second best time in the conference.
Senior captain Collin Bergey entered the 200-meter dash top five when he crossed the line in 22.92 seconds. He placed 19th at the invitational.
First-year Ken Barnes faced 26 in the long jump and beat all but two as he had his personal best 21-7 1/4. His jump pushed him to second in the conference, while his teammate junior Will Nolan cleared 13-7 1/4 and recorded a personal best in the process. This also put him at ninth in the competition, but it rose his spot in the conference to third.
“All the hard work has been done and the team had its last tough workout on Tuesday of this week,” said Wojick. “Most of the team has been here before, but the younger guys have also shown their composure over the season.”
The women’s side also competed at Shippensburg where junior Sarah Congdon hit a time of 1:05.29 in the 400 m hurdles, which was good enough for fourth among a field of 25. She currently holds the school record, which she missed by 0.39 seconds. This run put her into second in the Centennial Conference.
Junior Kendra Merideth also boosted her long jump standing in the conference to second with a 17-6 3/4 leap. Meredith also has the fourth best triple jump, and her teammate, senior captain Emily Waddell, entered the top five this weekend with a jump of 35-7 3/4.
Sophomore Kiersten Dyhrberg and first-year Kenzie Horst also entered the top five in the hammer throw.
“We have been completing high quality workouts that are race-specific to each of us. They have been tough but will definitely be worth it,” said senior captain Amanda Asaro. “We are in the best shape we possibly could be in at this point of our season and all we have to do now is ‘trust our fitness’ as Coach Shenk always says.”
Gettysburg will compete at the Centennial Conference Championship this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Johns Hopkins as the top Gettysburg athletes look to improve upon their spots in the rankings going into the meet.
