Titan Men Win PAC Indoor Track & Field Championship

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Westminster men's indoor track & field team claimed its first official Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship on Thursday. The Titan women placed fifth. The PAC Indoor Track and Field Championships took place at Youngstown State University.
 
The Titan men placed first out of 10 teams with 124 points. The women finished fifth out of 10 schools with 74.5 points.
 
"We always frame a theme for our meets," said head coach Tim McNeil who was named the PAC Men's Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year. "We talked about this meet being a Street Fight. A fight where you have to never give up or let your guard down. We knew we were going to take "punches" but we emphasized that we had to keep swinging until the end. The men landed more punches than the other...and we won. I am proud of our team. We have an amazing coaching staff where we work together to share athletes in other event groups. I am super thankful of our two-sport athletes who were huge in capturing this title."
 
Titan senior Jacob Patton (Harrisville, PA / Moniteau) won the PAC Overall MVP. Patton won the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 8.39 and was part of the winning 4x400 relay who clocked in at 3:26.98. Completing the quartet were senior Jacob Musselman (Denver, PA / Cocalico), junior Shamar Love (Bridgeton, NJ / Bridgeton), and junior Ryan Beard (Murrysville, PA / Franklin Regional). Patton also earned a pair of second-place finishes in the pole vault (3.45m) and triple jump (12.64m).
 
Senior Megan Parker (Mercer, PA / Mercer Area) highlighted the day for the Titan women by
setting a new program and PAC record in the weight throw with a toss of 54'4.75" (16.58m). and a new PAC record in the shot put with a mark of 44' 3½" (13.50 m) – earning a gold medal in both. Parker was named Co-Most Outstanding Women's Performer from the Field.
 
Also winning gold were sophomore Joseph Kurelowech (Erie, PA / McDowell) in the men's pole vault, setting a new PAC record with a vault of 15'3" (4.65m), and junior Emma Rudolph (Santa Clarita, CA / Golden Valley) in the women's pole vault with a mark of 12'4" (3.76m).
 
Westminster seniors Chris Powers (Erie, PA/Fort LeBoeuf), for men, and Jill Douglas (Fairhaven, MA/Fairhaven), for the women, were named on the PAC Sportsmanship Teams.
 
The Westminster men won the league's unofficial indoor championship in 2014. 2015 was the PAC's first official season with indoor track and field as a championship sport.
 
The 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships are set for Friday, March 11 – Saturday, March 12 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC.

For more Westminster Athletics news, go to westminster.edu/athletics.

Written by Nathan LaRiccia, Sports Information Director | Photo by Erynn Daubenmire '22

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