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April 22,
2003
Contact: Bob
McComas (724) 738-2777 e-mail: robert.mccomas@sru.edu
ROCK TRACK AND FIELD
STUDENT-ATHLETES
TRIPLE WINNERS OF P.S.A.C.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Gurcak, Westerman and Wilpula
honored
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University outdoor
track and field student-athletes earned three of a possible four
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference weekly honors for the week
ending April 19, 2003.
Nick Wilpula, a senior pole vaulter from Mercer (Mercer
HS), was named as the Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
after winning the SRU Invitational with a school-record vault of 17
feet that earned him a berth in the NCAA Division II national
competition later this spring. The height is the second highest
cleared by a D-II vaulter this spring.
Linsey Westerman, a senior from Freeport
(Freeport HS), earned the Female Track Athlete of the
Week honor. Westerman improved on her NCAA provisional qualifying
times in the 100 and 400 meter hurdle events with times of 14.38
and 1:01.85, respectively at the SRU Invitational. Her 440 IH
time is the fifth-fastest in the country, while her 100 HH time
ranks eighth. Westerman was also part of the winning 4x100
and 4x400 relay teams at the SRU Invitational.
Mackenzie Gurcak, a junior from Pittsburgh (Baldwin
HS), earned co-Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
honors. She captured the top spot in the shot put (44-9) and discus
(152-8) events at the SRU Invitational and met NCAA provisional
standards in both events. Among Division II competitors, her
discus performance is sixth and her shot put ranks 11th.
Gurcak is the third Rock woman to earn PSAC
Field Athlete of the Week honors in as many weeks. Karyn
McCready (jr., Johnstown/Westmont Hilltop HS) and
Kristen Jones (so., Enola/Bible Baptist HS)
were honored for the weeks ending April 8 and 15,
respectively.
John Papa, a member of SRU’s 1979 NCAA Division
III national championship team and a 1994 inductee into the SRU
Athletic Hall of Fame, coaches the Rock track and field
teams.
# ROCK PRIDE #
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