Marietta women share first and men take third at Don Frail Invitational
Pioneers set seven school records and Pallini provisionally qualifies for NCAA's in Shot Put

April 4, 2009
MARIETTA, Ohio — Senior Brian Pallini (Medina) provisionally qualified in the Shot Put for the 2009 NCAA Division III Track & Field Championship and seven school records fell to highlight the Marietta College track & field team's performance at the 2009 Don Frail Invitational Saturday (April 4) at Don Drumm Stadium.

More than a dozen schools competed in the annual event, which took place on the site of this year's NCAA Championship. Marietta's women claimed a share of the team title after matching Notre Dame College with 94.50 points. The Pioneer men placed third with 104 points.

Pallini became the second Pioneer student-athlete in as many weeks to provisionally qualify in an event, joining sophomore Zach Gay (Elyria/Oberlin), who met the minimum standard in the High Jump. Pallini, an All-America selection in the Indoor Weight Throw, surpassed the provisional mark in the Shot Put by seven centimeters with a school record throw of 15.52m (50-11.00), which earned him an individual title. Pallini then took first place in the Hammer Throw with a meet record throw of 50.79m (166-08).

Marietta also set a pair of school records in the 4x100m Relays. The men's 4x100m Relay, which set a meet record, featured freshmen Ryan Householder (Frazeysburg/Tri-Valley), Caleb Downey (Heath) and Jayshon Irvin (Vero Beach, Fla./Sebastian) and sophomore Matt Hickman (St. Mary's, W.Va.) and took first place with a time of 42.14 seconds. The time was just 1/4 of a second off the NCAA provisional standard. Freshman Lauren Asbury (White Sulphur Springs, W.Va./Greenbrier East), freshman Corryn Muench (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic), senior Sheena Spencer (Marietta/Parkersburg) and freshman Brittany Sims (Columbus/Eastmoor Academy) made up the Women's 4x100m Relay, which finished in 49.54 seconds and took third place.

Irvin also tied the school record in the 100m Dash, which was set by Tom Moss in 1987. He took fourth place after crossing the line in 10.84 seconds. Spencer also broke an individual record with her performance in the 200m Dash. She placed fourth, finishing the race in 26.22 seconds.

Senior Tiffany Kovacevich (Strongsville) broke the school record and set a new meet record while winning the Hammer Throw. She surpassed her own mark with a throw of 46.28m (151-10).

Freshman Ashley Bault (Atwater/Waterloo) set the fourth meet record and tied the school record while sharing first place in the High Jump. Bault leaped 1.60m (5-03.00), matching the performance of Breanne Kosar in 2006.

Junior Josh Mickle (Madison) was Marietta's sixth champion. He took first place in the 5,000m Run after crossing the line in 16:02.81.

Marietta is slated to return to the track on Tuesday (April 7) afternoon when they compete head-to-head against rival Muskingum College. This year's Dual Meet will take place in New Concord.

Senior Brian Pallini hit a NCAA provisionally qualifying mark in the Shot Put at the Don Frail Invitational.

Results