Flash Points:
- Saint Francis men's and women's track and field opened the season on Saturday.
- Taylor Thurnherr (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) was the only SFU woman to earn a top-three finish in the meet.
- Dashaun Jackson (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) was the the highest individual finisher for the Red Flash.
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's and women's indoor track and field teams began its 2017 campaigns on Saturday at the Bucknell University Bison Opener in Lewisburg, Pa.
Sophomore
Taylor Thurnherr (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) improved her best in the pole vault by 2" to a clearance of 3.50m (11' 5.75"). That keeps her in second on the all-time SFU performance list in that event and moves her to within 3.75" of the SFU school record.
Thurnherr was the top individual finisher for SFU, as her clearance of 3.50m in the pole vault tied her at the top of the leaderboard. Ultimately, Thurnherr earned second place in the competition based on previous misses at that height. Thurnherr was the only SFU woman to earn a top-three finish in the meet.
Freshman
Yohanny Rodriguez (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) debuted in the high jump with a clearance of 1.55m (5' 1"), which tied her for third on the all-time SFU performance list in that event (3.5" short of second all-time and 7" short of the school record).
Freshman
Lauren Vasas (Windber, Pa./Windber) debuted in the pole vault with a clearance of 2.90m (9' 6.25) to land at ninth on the all-time SFU performance list that in that event.
Freshman
Dayna DeSalve (DuBois, Pa./DuBois Area) debuted in the long jump with a mark of 5.03m (16' 6") to claim ninth on the all-time SFU performance list in that event.
Sophomore
Selena Damiano (Tyrone, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) improved her best in the shot put by fifteen inches to a mark of 12.22m (40' 1.5") and move her from seventh to sixth on the all-time performance list for SFU in that event.
On the men's side,
Dashaun Jackson (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) was the highest individual finishers for the Red Flash. His time in the 60m Hurdles also earned him second place in the meet, just 0.02 behind the winner, Grant Reynolds, running unattached. Jackson was the top collegian in the meet.
Jackson improved his previous best in the 60m Hurdles by 0.27 with his time of 8.28 seconds. That time propelled him all the way to third on the SFU all-time performance list in this event, just 0.09 short of the SFU school record. This was the only performance for the SFU men that ranked among the school's top-time all-time.
Junior sprinter
Daniel Meyer (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) took second place in the 200m dash with a flat track personal best time of 22.20 seconds. His finished 0.19 behind the winner.
Sophomore
Brian Hackman (Warriors Mark, Pa./St. Joseph Catholic Academy) took third in the 3000m run with a time of 9:34.81. Hackman was the only distance runner competing for the Red Flash in this meet. He finished nineteen seconds behind the winner.
Senior
Shamsiddin Little (Paulsboro, N.J./Paulsboro) began his final campaign for the Flash with a strong series of four throws over 16m in the shot put. His best mark of 16.60m (54' 5.5") earned him third place in the meet, less than two feet behind the winner.
The 4x400m Relay team of sophomore
Khailen Carroll (Gwynn Oak, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute), freshman
Keith Leckenby (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), sophomore
Dashaun Jackson (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg), and junior
Daniel Meyer (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) earned third place with a season opening time of 3:28.99, just 4.6 second behind the winners.
The Saint Francis student-athletes will now focus on finishing the academic semester, with final exams starting on Monday. Then, following Christmas break, they return to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 in a triangular meet with Bucknell University and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) back at Bucknell.
Complete results of the women's meet are online at:
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/47244_f.html
Complete results of the men's meet are online at:
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/47244_m.html
