Full Results

By Taylor Throckmorton '12

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Allegheny men's track and field squad opened the indoor season at the Second Annual Holiday Classic hosted by Case Western Reserve University. 

In the day's first event, senior captain Mike Petro set the tone by taking second in the weight throw with a toss of 16.52 meters.  Beaten only by Division II thrower Duke Taylor of Malone, Petro's throw was a mere eight inches off of the school record that he tied at the end of last season.

 "Mike Petro's throw today was his best season debut ever by a large margin," stated head coach Brent Wilkerson.  "All the hard work that he has put in over the summer and fall are certainly going to pay off this season.   Mike looks to be a solid competitor for the conference championship and I look forward to watching his progress over the season." 

Not to be outdone, the Freshman duo of Tre' Taylor and Andre Bryan took first and second in the long jump in their collegiate debuts, leaping 21' 10.75" and 21' 2.5" respectively.   Taylor's jump put him within seven inches of the Allegheny indoor school record, a mark that both jumpers will be looking to take down in future meets this season. 

The duo was not done there, however.  Bryan proceeded to go on to take second in the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.60 and seventh in the 200 in 24.37, while Taylor went on to take second in the 200 in 24.05, finishing behind his teammate and fellow first year Will Page who clocked a 23.82 to take the victory.  Page also had finished fourth in the 400 earlier in the day with a split of 52.25.

"Freshmen Will Page, Tre' Taylor, and Andre Bryan had an excellent start to their collegiate careers today," asserted Wilkerson.  "These three men are the future of Allegheny Track and Field and that future looks very bright."

The freshman squad continued to shine with standouts Ben Kinnamon and Allen Baugh who both made finals in the 55 meter dash beside Bryan.  Baugh blazed a 6.88, good for fifth, while Kinnamon closed in 7.02, earning him eighth.  Baugh added a fifth-place finish in the 200 (24.14) while Kinnamon tacked on seventh in the 400 (53.78). 
"Overall, I was really happy with our freshmen's performances," reflected Wilkerson.   "Even though it was a low-key meet, your first collegiate competition is always a stressful one and it seems that they handled the transition from high school to college well." 

Closing out the list of top-three finishers for the Gators was Cathal Chaffee, who began his junior campaign by taking second place in the 800 in a time of 2:03.08.  Chaffee's time was nearly 4 seconds faster than the 2:06.94 that he ran at the same meet the previous season.   

The Gators will now take a seven week hiatus over the holidays before resuming their season on January 24th at the College of Wooster.