Seven PSAC Qualifiers For Women's Indoor Track And Field On Saturday At Bison Open

(Photo courtesy of Bloomsburg University Sports Information)

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's indoor track and field team had seven Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) qualifiers as the Huskies wrapped up competition at the 20th annual Bison Open, hosted by Bucknell University, on Saturday.

Kirsten O'Malley (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area) had the highlight of the day as she won the long jump, convincingly, with a mark of 5.46 meters. O'Malley currently holds the second-best mark in the PSAC - 17th-best in the country - with her season-best mark of 5.71 meters at Houghton last month. She would later team up with Sarah Gottschalk (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township), Autumn Avery (Hughesville, Pa./Hughesville), and Carli Dedics (Drums, Pa./Hazleton Area) for a fourth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:06.67.

Also competing in the long jump was Kathleen Stevenson(Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) who finished ninth with a mark of 4.99 meters.

In the high jump, Amanda Simone (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) had another PSAC-qualifying mark on Saturday as she tied for third in the event with a mark of 1.59 meters. Chelsea Vaughn() was right behind, finishing in a tie for sixth with a mark of 1.54 meters. Hannah Masenheimer (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) later qualified for the conference meet in the weight throw with a distance of 13.00 meters. She was the top Bloomsburg finisher in the event as Rachael Sullivan (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) placed 18th (12.61 meters) and Dana Sheply(Maple Shade, N.J./Maple Shade) was 32nd (9.83 meters).

Freshman Alaina Pearson (Coal Township, Pa./Shamokin Area)posted her second qualifying mark of the weekend as she took eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 10.56 meters. Her jump is the 16th-best mark in the conference this season.

On the track, Dedics took seventh in the 60-meter dash, qualifying for the event finals with a time of 8.05 seconds in the morning, and then finishing with a time of 8.10 in the finals. The final PSAC qualifiers came in the mile as both Hannah Boudreau(Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) and Madison Mimnaugh (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Pittston Area) got under the standard for the conference meet. Boudreau finished second with a time of 5:17.79 while Mimnaugh was sixth, clocking in at 5:25.19. Boudreau's time is the eighth-best mark in the PSAC this season while Mimnaugh's is 12th.

Boudreau also took fifth in the 1000-meter run on Saturday, finishing with a time of 3:19.53.

Two others posted top ten finishes on Saturday - Avery was fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:27.02 while Gottschalk was fourth in the 500-meter run after crossing the finish line in 1:23.04.

The Huskies will compete again on Friday, February 2, and Saturday, February 3, when they head to Youngstown, Ohio to participate in the Youngstown State National.