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BLOOMSBURG – Senior Dan Johnson shattered his own school record and won his second career PSAC title in the multis with a score of 6,925 points, the sixth-best in Division II in the decathlon this season, to highlight East Stroudsburg University's performance on Friday at the PSAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Johnson was one of four school record setters on Friday, with three other freshman records falling among a host of strong individual performances

All four school record setters improved on their existing marks. Freshman Danielle Smith lowered her time to 12.08 in the prelims of the 100m dash, junior Lauren Ventrella ran 14.58 in the prelims of the 100m hurdles and sophomore Laura Beimfohr cleared 11-8 1/2 in the pole vault, which will be completed on Saturday after it was suspended due to inclement weather.

ESU leads the women's field with 37 points, two ahead of Shippensburg. The men are currently fourth with 29 points, trailing Shippensburg (56), Edinboro (32) and Lock Haven (30) and just clear of Slippery Rock (27) going into the final day of action on Saturday.

Johnson set personal bests in six of the 10 events, including four of five on Friday, to break his school record of 6,516 points and successfully defend his PSAC title in the heptathlon during the indoor season. His score was 24 points off the meet record set by Brian Spickler (IUP) in 1997.

He had career bests of 11.64 in the 100m dash and 50.55 in the 400 on Thursday, and followed up with marks of 15.83 in the 110m hurdles, 120-4 in the discus, 183-1 in the javelin and 4:32.07 in the 1500m run on Friday. He also cleared 13-7 1/4 in the pole vault, six inches off his PR.

Johnson is also the top seed in Saturday's open high jump with a mark of 6-6. He cleared 6-6 in the decathlon high jump on Thursday and also posted 20-2 1/4 in the long jump and 38-9 in the shot put. Johnson scored in the top six in the multis in all eight PSAC Championships in his career at ESU.

Junior Andrew Sloves finished 11th in the decathlon with 5,713 points, representing a personal best of 512 points. He PR'd in eight of the 10 events – the 100, high jump and 400 on Thursday and all five events on Friday.

In the women's heptathlon, sophomore Theresa Horn placed third with 4,187 points – 478 points better than her seeded mark of 3,709 points. She also had a career day on Friday, with PR's in all three events – the long jump (16-8 3/4 – 9 inch PR), javelin (95-1 – 21-1 PR) and 800m run (2:25.46 – 7.5 second PR). She also lowered her PR in the 100m hurdles (16.81) on Thursday and hit 5-3 1/4 in the high jump, 24-11 3/4 in the shot put and 27.72 in the 200m.

Horn was one of three scorers for ESU in the open high jump, where senior Devyn Emerich and sophomore Christina O'Connor tied for second at 5-5 1/4 and Horn was sixth at 5-3 1/4. Shippensburg's Erin Flick cleared 5-7 1/4 on her final attempt to win the conference title. Emerich scored in a PSAC championship for the seventh time in her career and had her fourth top-three performance.

The women's team score also includes 14 points in the 10K on Thursday night, where juniors Rose Mascoli and Corinne Fitzgerald placed second and third. Mascoli will run the 1500 and 3000 on Saturday, and Fitzgerald is the top seed in the 3000m steeplechase.

On the men's side, the Warriors added scorers in three events to Johnson's record-setting performance in the decathlon.

ESU had two scorers in the 5000m, with sophomore Frank Fezza fourth in 15:11.38 and senior Greg Laraia sixth in 15:18.18. Laraia has scored nine points at the PSAC Championships after running a 35-second PR to place third in the 10K on Thursday night.

Travis Toth placed fifth in the hammer with a mark of 172-3 and was one of two freshman record setters for the ESU men. He shattered the previous record of 155-10 set by Paul Wagner, an eventual eight-time PSAC champion, in 2007.

Sophomore Keith Parker-Washington also picked up a point in the long jump, placing eighth with a mark of 21-11 3/4.

PRELIMS

Smith is the No. 2 seed entering the finals in both the 100m dash and 200m after her performances in the prelims. She ran 12.08 in the 100 (lowering her school record of 12.09) and 25.14 (lowering her freshman record of 25.16). She was seeded first in the 100 and second in the 200 entering the meet, and was third in the 60m dash and eighth in the 200m during the indoor season.

Ventrella (14.58, school record) and junior Aniyah Williams (14.86) are seeded fourth and fifth going into the finals of the 100m hurdles. Ventrella broke her own record of 14.72 and Williams ranks third all-time at ESU, lowering her PR from 15.10. Ventrella was 11th in the 200m prelims in 25.75.

The 4x100m relay of Ventrella, sophomore Colleen Murphy, sophomore Rachel Pierantozzi and Smith is the No. 3 seed entering the finals after running 47.67, just off its season-best and school record of 47.44.

The Warriors men qualified three for the finals in both the 100m dash and 200m, where they figure to pick up huge points on Saturday.

In the 200, defending indoor champion senior Ian Melhorn is the top seed in 21.73, followed by Parker-Washington (5th in 22.09) and freshman Brett Yeomans (8th in 22.30). Yeomans was seeded 15th entering the meet in 22.72, while Parker-Washington was just off his PR and placed third last year.

In the 100, freshman Brandon Mercer is fourth in 10.74, Melhorn is fifth in 10.79 and freshman Robert Fearon is seventh in 10.87, three-tenths of a second faster than his PR. Mercer broke the 36-year old freshman record of 10.84 that was set by Elbert Price in 1976.

Freshman Damien Boham enters the 400m final as the No. 3 seed in 48.74 after being seeded 11th in 49.17 going into the weekend.

Junior Kyle Soden, one of the favorites in Saturday's high jump, will also run in the finals of the 110m hurdles after placing eighth in the prelims in 15.39.

The 4x100m relay (Mercer, Parker-Washington, Fearon, Melhorn), which had the top time in the conference (41.30) entering the meet, ran the second-fastest time in the prelims in 41.47.

In the 800m, all three of ESU's entries broke 1:55 but just missed making the final. Junior Mike Saparito was ninth in 1:53.81, less than a second off his school record of 1:52.96, junior Amr Aldeen was 11th in 1:54.69 and senior Sam Janssen was 13th in 1:54.78.

SATURDAY

Action will get underway at 10 a.m. with the completion of the women's pole vault, which was postponed due to inclement weather on Friday night. Beimfohr is one of five competitors to clear 11-8 1/2 and will resume at 12-2 1/2. She tied for third at the indoor championships this year.

Saturday also brings finals in the men's/women's triple jump, men's/women's javelin, men's/women's discus, men's pole vault and men's high jump.

All of the remaining finals will be contested on the track – the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, women's 3000, 100/110 hurdles, 400 hurdles, 3000 steeplechase and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.


Women's Results – Finals

High Jump
t-2. Devyn Emerich – 5-5 1/4
t-2. Christina O'Connor – 5-5 1/4
6. Theresa Horn – 5-3 1/4

Long Jump
15. Aniyah Williams – 17-0
19. Lauren Hannan – 16-6

Heptathlon
3. Theresa Horn – 4187 [ESU #4 score – 478 point PR]


Women's Results – Prelims

100m dash
2. Danielle Smith – 12.08 [School Record – prev. record 12.09]
14. Rachel Pierantozzi – 12.53
t-21. Brittany Jones – 12.79
t-21. Morgan McCarthy – 12.79

200m
2. Danielle Smith – 25.14 [ESU t-#4 time – Freshman Record, previously 12.16]
11. Lauren Ventrella – 25.75

400m
12. Nicole Brown – 59.48

800m
21. Imani Rosario – 2:24.99

100m Hurdles
4. Lauren Ventrella – 14.58 [School Record – prev. record 14.72]
5. Aniyah Williams – 14.86 [ESU #3 time]

400m Hurdles
11. Julie Granteed – 1:06.90

4x100m Relay
3. Lauren Ventrella, Colleen Murphy, Rachel Pierantozzi, Danielle Smith – 47.67


Men's Results – Finals

5000m
4. Frank Fezza – 15:11.38
6. Greg Laraia – 15:18.18
17. Chris Schneider – 16:36.61

Long Jump
8. Keith Parker-Washington – 21-11 3/4
10. Brandon Hillman – 21-4 3/4

Hammer
5. Travis Toth – 172-3 [ESU #4 mark – Freshman Record]
13. Casey Ciaston – 150-2 [ESU #7 mark]

Shot Put
13. Casey Ciaston – 44-9 3/4
16. Travis Toth – 42-5 1/4

Decathlon
1. Dan Johnson – 6925 [#6 in Division II – breaks school record of 6516]
11. Andrew Sloves – 5713 [502 point PR]


Men's Results – Prelims

100m dash
4. Brandon Mercer – 10.74 [ESU #6 time – Freshman Record]
5. Ian Melhorn – 10.79
7. Robert Fearon – 10.87 [ESU t-#9 time]
17. Julian Franklin – 11.21

200m
1. Ian Melhorn – 21.73
5. Keith Parker-Washington – 22.09
8. Brett Yeomans – 22.30
12. Kyle Rickard – 22.42

400m
3. Damien Boham – 48.74 [ESU #6 time]

800m
9. Mike Saparito – 1:53.81
11. Amr Aldeen – 1:54.69
13. Sam Janssen – 1:54.78

110m Hurdles
8. Kyle Soden – 15.39

400m Hurdles
17. Christopher Walker – 56.91

4x100m Relay
2. Brandon Mercer, Keith Parker-Washington, Robert Fearon, Ian Melhorn – 41.47