Mariners Enjoy Strong Tuneup For Landmark Championships

HAVERFORD, Pa. - With the last regular season indoor meet in the books the Mariners now have their sights set on the Landmark Conference Championships which they will contest next weekend. On Friday the team completed their tune-up at Haverford College in the Keogh Invitational which included the host Haverford College along with Swarthmore College, Widener University and Muhlenberg College.

The men showed their strength in the sprints once again, finally at full-strength after some of their top runners had been absent from recent meets. SO Mickel McGann, FR Chris Cook and SR Andrew Coatsworth finished 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively in the 60m dash. McGann (7.32) and Cook (7.33) are now both ranked in the "Top 5" in the Landmark Conference in the event and their times were good enough for the 3rd and 4th best marks on the Academy All-time list. Coatsworth also had a strong run in the 200m coming across the line with a 24.17 to place 5th overall in the meet. One of the best performance of the day for the Mariners also came in the 200m with SO Tyler McDaniel running his lifetime best mark in 23.95 seconds to place 4th. This is the 2nd fastest time ran by a Mariner this year and will put McDaniel in contention to score in the conference meet.

Things just kept rolling for the Mariner sprinters in the 400m as FR Tomas Sanchez ran a personal best mark of 51.99 to take second place overall in the meet. Seniors Kevin Young and Richard Shelest also ran indoor personal best marks and placed in the Top 10 overall with times of 52.54 and 54.23 respectively. Young, Shelest, and Sanchez combined with Senior Hunter Karass (who also had aTop 10 performance in the 400m - 54.08) to run the best time of the season in the 4x400m relay. The team finish in a conference leading time of 3:30.79.

It was also a great day for the Mariner Shot Putters as four of the five throwers had a personal nest mark. SR Ed Logan just missed his personal best but still lead the way for the Mariners finishing with a mark of 12.27m and the top spot among all collegiate competitors. SR. Aaron Benson was close behind finishing second with a new personal best mark of 12.12 meters. FR Ryan Pierson showed solid improvement throwing 11.37m and SR Kevin Stapf opened up his season with a mark of 10.69m. FR Austin Booyachai increased his best mark to date by throwing 9.40m.

The jumpers represented well in taking the top two spots of the meet in the Long Jump competition. Adding to his great run in the 60m, Chris Cook was once again victorious in the event. His mark of 6.60m is his second best mark ever and sits #8 on the Academy's All-time list. Fellow FR Luke Kolbeck placed 2nd overall in the event with a jump of 6.04m. Luke's best performance of the day however actually came in the 60m Hurdles. His time of 9.56 was a meet-winning performance that also placed #14 on the Academy's All-time list. FR Bryan Tischler kept up his improvements in the Pole Vault clearing another bar higher at 3.95m. This 2nd place overall meet finish puts him in contention to score at the conference meet.

The great day continued in the Mile run as personal best marks came from FR David McGowan (4:39.65), SR Logan Swan (4:47.93) and SR Mike Clarke (5:04.74). McGowan's run also placed him #15 on the Academy's All-time list.

For the women the Mariners were lead by Senior Captain Lauren Rattan who had an outstanding day. In the 800m, Rattan ran a personal best race that puts her #2 on the All-time Academy list behind former ECAC qualifier Chrissy Anderson. Her mark of 2:28.87 was the fastest time run in a UMSMMA uniform since 2002 and .65 seconds faster than Rattan ran herself at the at the 2011 Landmark Championships where she placed 4th overall. "Lauren is primed for a big day at Landmarks next week. She has better fitness than ever before and is really starting to run smart races," said Head Coach Greg Lott. In addition to the 800m, Lauren teamed up with FR Amber Kinter, FR Michelle Danhoff and SO Katie Miller to re-break the Academy Record in the 4x400m relay, running a 4:45.36.

Danhoff also starred for the Mariners with a significant improvement of her personal best and the Academy Record in the 60m Hurdlers. Danhoff dropped .32 seconds and won her heat with a time of 10.61. SR Anna Simons, who is brand new to the event, also showed strong improvement running a time of 12.49. FR Amber Kinter also added a strong individual performance to her 4x400m relay record. Kinter ran a 2:39.37 in her first open 800m of the season which was good enough to crack the Academy's All-time "Top 20" List (19th). The ladies ran particularly well in the Mile with three Mariners under the 6:20 barrier. FR Ellie Coulter ran her second fastest time to date with a 6:16.45. Sophomores Katie Miller and Chelsea Tapper were close behind running 6:16.63 and 6:17.14 respectively.

The Mariners will head to Susquehanna University this next weekend to take on the rest of the conference at the Landmark Championships.

Story provided by USMMA Sports Information