Day 1 Results  |  Photo Gallery

EDINBORO, Pa. – Two Warriors placed in the top five in the men's long jump, and both Distance Medley Relay teams placed third to highlight a strong start for East Stroudsburg University at the 2018 PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.

ESU had at least one top-eight finisher in 10 of the 13 finals on Day 1 of the two-day meet, and the Warriors added eight additional qualifying times for finals set to be contested on Sunday afternoon. The ESU men sit in fourth place with a team total of 25 points, while the women are currently in fifth place with 19 points.

Sophomores Darnell Randall and Austin Horner accounted for ESU's top five showings in the long jump, as they placed third and fourth, respectively, with top efforts of 22-5 3/4. Randall scores for the first time in his career indoors, while Horner earns his second-straight top five finish in the long jump.

Horner also competed in his first four events of the heptathlon, and he is in second place (13 points out of first) with 2,736 points heading into the last three competitions on Sunday. Horner posted PR's in 3 of 4 events, and he was first in the 13-athlete field in both the long jump (22-1 1/2) and high jump (6-4). With 2,377 points, freshman Garth Estadt is only 12 points out of the scoring positions in ninth place.

The men's DMR was the first contested final on the track, and freshman Nick Fanelle, senior Zack Krieger, sophomore Matt Lloyd and freshman Omari Slocombe teamed up for a third-place result with a time of 10:30.98 which was less than two seconds out of the top spot. The women's DMR team of senior Samantha Young, junior Leiana Dean, junior Shante Dorin and senior Kaylyn West then followed with a third-place finish of their own, as they completed their race in 12:15.04.

ESU had two more top-five showings on Day 1 finals. Junior Aspen Gaita took fourth in the long jump with a top effort of 18-2 1/2; that finish improves on her sixth place showings at the indoor and outdoor championships a year ago. The men's 4x800m relay team of freshman Jordan Cruise, sophomore Mike Sheptuk, sophomore Andrew Lopez and junior Khai Samuels then took fifth with a time of 8:01.12 in the final race of the evening.

Other scorers for the men were freshman Dan Amari (sixth in the pole vault – 14-0) and junior Tom Ciaccio (eighth in the 5000m – 15:26.74). Ciaccio's PR time was nearly 20 seconds quicker than his conference qualifying mark.

Junior Michayla Weitman and sophomore Me'Saj Closs added top-eight individual performances for the women. Weitman placed sixth in the heptathlon with a personal-best total of 3,042 points that ranks No. 6 in program history. She posted individual PR's in the 60-meter hurdles (9.55) and high jump (5-0 1/2). Closs, meanwhile, improved one spot on her finish last winter with a seventh-place showing in the weight throw (51-2 3/4).

The final women's race on the track was the 4x800m relay, and freshman Brittany Carratura, junior Victoria Matthews, freshman Courtney Skikus and freshman Tiana Wilkinson teamed up to place sixth with a time of 10:01.48.

Among the qualifying races, senior Christian Castro put himself in prime position for a top finish in the 60m hurdles, as he enters Sunday's final as the No. 1 qualifier after crossing the line in 8.20. Gaita, the defending PSAC champion in the women's 60m hurdles, was the No. 2 qualifier with a season-best NCAA DII provisional time of 8.62.

Both Castro and Gaita will be competing in two finals on the track on Sunday. Castro (7.00) and junior Pat Monahan (7.08) will be in the 60m dash final, while Gaita and junior Marissa Flim advanced with a pair of standout performances in the 200m. Gaita's qualifying time of 25.54 is ranked No. 5 in program history, while Flim's mark of 25.66 ranks No. 7 all-time.

Flim added another PR as the No. 3 qualifier in the 60m dash. Her time of 7.70 is No. 2 in ESU history, behind only Danielle Smith's 2015 mark of 7.62. Sophomore Morgan Dey did not advance to Sunday's final, but her preliminary time of 7.90 was a new personal-best and ranks No. 9 all-time at ESU.

Twenty-three more finals will be contested to conclude the meet on Sunday. Action in the field begins at 12 p.m., while the first final on the track is the men's mile at 12:30 p.m.