MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Ben Williams, Lina Single and Cassondra O'Connor earned All-MEC Honorable Mention nods as Point Park track & field opened the MEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday at Mylan Park. Single set a new program record in the javelin, with O'Connor earning the honor in the 10,000m.

 

The Pioneers' men's and women's teams are in fourth and third place, respectively, with the men holding 11 points and the women boasting 22. PPU dominated the javelin events on both the men's and women's sides, with three Pioneers earning points in both events - both of which were the most of all teams.

 

Ben Williams took third place in the men's event, picking up 6 points for Point Park. Williams' mark of 55.98 meters resets his own fourth-best mark in program history and he ranks 95th in all of Division II Athletics. 

 

Lina Single's toss of 38.14 meters is good for a new program record and a third-place finish. Single moved up from fourth place in the Pioneers' record books, and she picked up 6 points for PPU in the event. 

 

Cassondra O'Connor added 6 points with her third-place finish in the 10,000m. O'Connor finished with a time of 37:31.27, good for an All-MEC Honorable Mention. Her time was just shy of her program-record time.

 

PIONEER POINT SCORERS    

In addition to Williams and Single, Point Park added fifth- and eighth-place finishes in both the men's and women's javelin.

 

Jan Tuttenberg placed fifth on the men's side, picking up 4 points for Point Park. Tuttenberg recorded a distance of 52.34 meters. He was joined by Ben Blahovec, who scored a point with his eighth-place distance of 51.32 meters.

 

Alexis Heller finished fifth in the women's javelin with her toss of 34.61 meters. Heller added 4 points for Point Park. Cyeanna Evelyn placed eighth thanks to her 31.72-meter throw. Evelyn scored a point with her finish.

 

Zabine von Westernhagen placed fifth in the event, adding 4 points. von Westernhagen's time of 38:59.33 moved her from fifth place to third in Pioneer history. Alana Dyce-Giraud added a point thanks to her eighth-place finish. Dyce-Giraud recorded a time of 39:30.64.

 

QUALIFYING PIONEERS

Lindsay Simmons, Dunya Van den Tooren and Lotte Zethof both qualified for the finals in the 400m hurdles. Simmons reset her fourth-best time in program history with her 1:06.57 time - good for a third-place finish.

 

Van den Tooren placed fourth in the event with her time of 1:06.57, and Zethof's time of 1:06.86 was good for seventh place. Both competitors will compete in the finals on Tuesday.

 

Kamar Sutherland finished in seventh place in the 400m hurdles preliminaries. Sutherland's time of 56.75 seconds was good to qualify for Tuesday's finals. 

 

Mya Greschner qualified for the finals in the 200m with her third-place finish. Greschner, the reigning MEC Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Week, finished third with her time of 24.84 seconds - just shy of her program-record time of 24.66 seconds.

 

DECATHLON STANDINGS

After the opening day in the decathlon, Trey Jones sits in third place at 3,028 points, and Andrew Hartung ranks seventh at 2,700 points. Jones finished second in the high jump at 1.85 meters and tallied third-place finishes in the long jump (5.89 meters) and shot put (11.08 meters). Hartung's time of 52.78 seconds in the 400m was good for third place.

 

The decathlon will wrap up on Monday.

 

STANDINGS

After the opening day, the men's team has 11 points. The men are currently tied for fourth place with WV Wesleyan, 2 points shy of third-place Davis & Elkins and 33 points behind Charleston which sits in pole position.

 

The women's team ranks third with 22 points, 5 points shy of second-place Glenville State and 11 shy of Charleston. 

 

Point Park's men's and women's teams both took second at the MEC Indoor Championships.