West Chester Excels in Golden Ram Invitational; McLaughlin Breaks School Record
West Chester, Pa. – West Chester opened the spring schedule in impressive fashion with 11 first place finishes as they hosted the Golden Ram Invitational inside John A. Farrell Stadium on Saturday. Caroline McLaughlin (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) rewrote the record book by breaking the school record in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.88). Her time provisionally qualified for the NCAAs. The junior also claimed first in the 100-meter hurdles (15:31). Meanwhile, Sarah Kosenske (Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Cumberland Valley) provisionally qualified in the triple jump for the Golden Rams, leaping 38 feet, 11 inches. Her second first place finish of the day came in the long jump. Registering the top spot in the 100 and 200-meter dash was Alyson Hall (West Chester, Pa./East). Hall clocked a time of 12.58 seconds in the 100 and 25.71 in the 200. The Golden Rams managed to provide the top four finishers in the 100-meter dash as well. Teammates Jasmine Noble (Chalfont, Pa. / Central Bucks South) (12.62), Emily Magnant (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) (12.69), and Courtney Taylor (Doylestown, Pa. / Central Bucks South)(12.71) all came in second, third, and fourth. West Chester had the top six finishers in the 800-meter run with Allison Lewis (Montrose, Pa. / Montrose) coming across the finish line first at 2 minutes, 18.33 seconds. Right behind Lewis was Laura Slavich (Havertown, Pa. / Haverford) at 2 minutes, 18.50. In the 1500-meter run, Diana Dunn (Media, Pa./Penncrest) provided a first place finish 4:51.86) while Amanda Kodis (Garnet Valley, Pa. / Garnet Valley) (5:10.43) was slated third. In the 5,000 meter run, West Chester's Courtney Catlin arrived in third (20:45.95) while Alie Smith (Shippensburg, Pa. / Big Spring)finished second seconds later for fourth. Putting together a second place finish in the 400-meter hurdles was Amanda Castellano (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) at 1:04.07. In the 4x400 meter relays, West Chester's relays were dominant with the "A" claiming first, "B" second, and and "C" in fifth. In the high jump, Holly Szita (Allentown, Pa. / Salisbury) brought home the top honor at 5 feet, 4.25 inches. Meanwhile, Sammi Lowery (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) leaped 11 feet, 1.75 inches in the pole vault for first. In the triple jump, Taylor Pugh (Philadelphia, Pa./Milton Hershey) registered second. Lastly, Emily Field (Pottsville, Pa. / Nativity BVM) finished in second for the javelin throw. Overall, there were a total of 20 teams competing with three teams outside of West Chester coming from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in Cheyney, Millersville, and Kutztown. West Chester heads to the Millersville next Saturday for the Millersville Metrics inside Biemesderfer Stadium.
