SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. (April 18, 2024) - For the first time this season, Georgian Court Track and Field has a two meet week and the first of those two was a great success. Competing at the annual Shippensburg Mid-Week Invitational, the Lions put together a number of great performances, including setting a new school record in the process.

Throws
• Malicah Etienne is the new Georgian Court discus king. He threw the discus 169-5 and took second place. He breaks a record that had stood since 2017 and his mark is an NCAA qualifier.
• Thomas Menegus threw the discus as well throwing 103-9 and finished in 29th place. Menegus later on had a personal-best in the shot put throwing 41-5 for 19th place.
• The Lion men had two in the top-10 of the shot put. Robbie Babson finished fourth throwing 51-7 and Etienne was seventh at 48-3.5. 
• Babson threw a personal-best in the hammer throw for a fifth place finish throwing 165-1. 
• Anthony Lorenzo had a personal-best in the hammer as well throwing 115-11 for 24th place. He was 23rd in the shot put throwing 36-7.5. 
• Joseph Sauchelli threw the javelin for the Lions and took third place with a heave of 179-6.
• In the women's hammer throw, Chiamaka took 13th place throwing 133-1. She was also 18th in the discus at 100-5. 
• Sabrina Halk had a good afternoon setting a personal-bests in two events. She first threw the hammer 103-2 for 27th place. Later she had a mark of 104-1 in the discus.
• Ava Reardon had a top-five finish in the javelin. She threw a personal-best 122-8 for fourth place. Sheridan Martinez was 18th in the event at 93-11.
• Ingrid Rivera-Zuniga competed in the shot put and threw 32-2 for 15th place. 

Sprints
• In the men's 100m, Ivan Ramos-Lopez entered the all-time top-10 running 11.47 for 31st place and moved to eight all-time at GCU.
• All three Lions in the 100m ran personal-best times. Brian Barnes ran 11.76 for 44th place and Joshua Tipaldo 12.49 for 56th place.
• Barnes was the only Lion to run personal-bests in the 100m and 200m. He was also 43rd at 200m running 24.36. Tipaldo took 63rd at 200m running 26.71. 
• The distance crew put on their sprinting shoes running the 400m. Sprinter Seth Powell still got the top mark in the event though running a personal-best 51.94 for 17th place. Powell also led GCU in the 200m running 23.63 for 26th place. 
• Sean Donnamaria took 22nd place running 52.92 and James McCoy was 24th in a personal-best 53.63. McCoy also ran 25.19 for 52nd in the 200m. 
• Kyle Spector, the senior, ran his first outdoor open 400m. He took 26th place in 53.91 which is a personal-best. Freshman Ryan Pettrow was right behind in 25th place running 53.78.
• Rounding out the Lions were Alexander Dejean in 56.27 for 33rd place, Max Salgado-Vidal in 56.33 for 34th place, Joe Jamolawicz in 57.58 for 36th place and Thomas Rosky in 57.64 for 37th place. Dejean was also entered in the 200m where he ran 25.29 for 54th place. 
• Leela McConnell ran a season-best in the 100m finishing 30th in 14.08. Samantha Lonseth took 34th at 14.75.
• Over 400m, Niya Barden set an outdoor personal-best running 1:02.87 for 11th place. She was followed by Aaliyah Thorpe in 14th place at 1:03.56.
• Molly Burns set a big personal-best finishing in 15th place in 1:04.63. Selma Cazimoska ran 1:12.61 for 19th place.

Distance
• Only two Lions ran further than 400m. Those were Amirah Beasley and Madalin Jones in the 1500m.
• Beasley took fourth place running 5:00.29. Jones set a new personal-best in 5:35.70 for 12th place. 

Jumps
• Malama Toure moved up in the Lions all-time top-10 jumping 17-2.75 for a new outdoor personal-best. She placed eighth overall and moved to sixth in GCU history outdoors.
• Ingrid Rivera-Zuniga finished in 20th the long jump with her mark of 15-1.25.
• In the men's triple jump, Matthew Sutton finished in 11th place jumping 40-6.75.
• Sean Donnamaria was ninth in the pole vault clearing 11-3.75. 

As mentioned this is a two-meet week for the Lions. They'll compete again Saturday, April 20 at the Rider Invitational beginning at 10 a.m.