Alliance, OH. – After nine athletes qualified for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Meet a year ago, the Penn State Greater Allegheny (PSUGA) Track & Field team started the 2019-2020 Indoor season with an impressive showing at the Mount Union Toy Drive Invitational on Saturday. In what was a strong day for the team, three athletes qualified for this year’s USCAA Nationals in three different events.
Sophomore Kristina Sequeira (Norwalk, CT./Brien McMahon HS) was the first to qualify when she competed as the first-ever PSUGA Women’s Indoor Shot putter. She threw a personal best 7.24 meters on her second throw of the day, sending her to the National meet for the first time in her career. Sequeira beat her previous best by 0.4 meters and is well on her way to a strong 2019-2020 season.
As the field events continued, sophomore James Plez (Philadelphia, PA./Northeast HS) was the next to qualify in the Long Jump. He finished in the top 20, coming in at 5.76 meters and finishing 11th in the field. The distance was just 0.08 meters shy of his personal best of 5.84 meters, set at the Slippery Rock Open Invitational last season.
Plez’s strong day continued on the track and in the Men’s 60-Meter Dash. He would pick up his first top 10 finish of the season running the race in 7.42 seconds and qualifying for his second USCAA National Event this season. His run also set the new PSUGA school record for the 60-Meter Dash defeating the previous time of 7.55 seconds held by Davin Manfredi (Pleasant Hills, PA./Thomas Jefferson HS).
Plez’s teammate Namy Makiese (Pittsburgh, PA./Allderdice HS) was the final PSUGA Track & Field Athlete to qualify for Nationals, also in the 60-Meter Dash. Makiese finished the race in 7.59 seconds putting him third all-time in the PSUGA record books. Both Makiese and Plez are heading to the USCAA National Meet for the second time in their careers.
First-year athletes competing at the meet also made their marks in the PSUGA history books. Freshmen Michael Marks (Pittsburgh, PA.) and Fernando Hernandez (Lexington, KY./Keystone Oaks HS) both competed in the 1 Mile Run finishing third and fourth respectively with times of 6:03.54 and 6:17.93, while Elijah Akinade (Virginia Beach, VA./Princess Anne HS) ran in the 800-Meter run with a time of 2:21.46.
The PSUGA Track & Field team will return to action after the Christmas break when they head to the Youngstown State Invitational on Friday, January 17th, 2020. The event is set to start at 11 a.m.
