By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College men's outdoor track and field team improved on its fourth place finish from last year to place third at the Landmark Conference Championships in 2014. It marked their sixth third place finish in seven years. They scored 38.5 more points at the championships than last year to hold onto third place.
In 2014, the Eagles saw two take home Landmark titles, and three receive all-conference nods and move into the program's record books. Collectively, Juniata held top five marks in the league in eight different events.
The underclassman made their presence felt this past season. Freshman Trenton Barnes (Hopewell, Pa./Northern Bedford) headed the short distance sprinters. He led the team in the 100m and 200m dashes and placed in both events at the Landmark championships, scoring six points for the team. Sophomores Tyler Mandley (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) and R.J. Bogdan (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) controlled the middle distances. Mandley ran the fastest 400m time (54.16) at the Frostburg State Invitational back on April 5.
Bogdan's time of 1:59.94 in the 800m run at the Paul Kaiser Classic (April 26) was a personal best mark and the fastest of any Eagle during the season. He beat freshman Petro Sokirniy (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Upper Moreland) by 0.74 seconds to earn the top time and went on to place eighth at the championships.
Sophomore Matt Guetzlaff (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkville) dominated the distance events. He earned the team's top time in the 1500m, 3K, and 5K runs. His time of 4:04.52 in the 1,500m run was a personal record and 6.25 seconds faster than the next Eagle. He and senior Nate Alter (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) went 1-2 in the 3K and 5K runs with personal best times. Guetzlaff now holds the third fastest outdoor 3K time in program history at 9:07.17 and Alter is right behind him in the four spot with a time of 9:09.63 that the pair ran at the Paul Kaiser Classic on April 26.
The duo also worked their way into the record books in the 5K this season. Guetzlaff owns the programs second fastest 5K time at 15:14.20, set at the Bison Outdoor Classic (April 12). He went on to win the event at Landmarks for his first conference title. Alter moved to fifth on the all-time list for his time of 15:28.47 at the Jim Taylor Invitational on March 29.
But Alter wasn't done there. He took home his only outdoor Landmark Conference title (May 4) in the 10K with a personal best time of 32:19.09. It was the second fastest time of any Juniata runner all-time in the event. Both he and Guetzlaff earned first-team all-conference honors for their wins.
Mandley was also the Eagles primary hurdler. He ran the team's top times in the 110m and 400m hurdles, finishing second in the latter at Landmark's to earn second-team all-conference honors. His time of 15.59 in the 100m hurdles at Landmarks was the fifth fastest in program history. After the conference championships, he ran a personal best 55.82 in the 400m hurdles at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier (May 12). The time was the fastest in the Landmark this season.
In the field, senior Justin Herr (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) led the team in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. He finished top 10 in the league in each event and scored in the triple jump at championships. Freshman Andrew Paterno (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) controlled the throws. He held the team's longest distances in the shot put, hammer throw, javelin, and discus. Paterno recorded his best shot put and javelin distances at Landmark's. His shot put toss of 13.26m was nearly 0.50m further than the second place distance on the team and fourth best in the league.
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