PAVLUS, PIRINELLI EARN HONORS AS SAINTS FINISH SECOND IN NYSCTC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Mar. 1: Sophomore Alyssa Pirinelli was the 2008 NYSCTC indoor championship field performer of the year with another record-setting win in the shot put and first-year Wendy Pavlus earned rookie of the year honors following up a win in the 5000 with a victory in the 3000 at the championship meet at SLU’s Newell Field House on Saturday.

The Saint team finished second in a 15-team field, trailing champion Rochester by 17 points, 107-90. Buffalo State was third with 85, RPI fourth with 82.5 and Brockport fifth with 82.

Pirinelli was second in the weight throw on Friday and improved her own St. Lawrence record. She won her third straight NYSCTC shot put title on Saturday with a throw of 13.85 meters (45-5), which bettered her own NYSCTC meet record.

Pavlus ran 8000 meters over the two-day meet and spent most of them in front of the pack. She won the 3000 in 10:30.95 on Saturday, finishing nearly ten seconds in front of runner-up Kellie Hasselwander of Rochester.

The Saints also added a relay title on Saturday as the 4x800 team of Chelsea McKenzie, Elizabeth Atwood, Alexis Nuffer and Lindsey Taylor won in 9:48.03.

Other scorers for the Saints on Saturday included Taylor with a third in 79.77 and Atwood eighth in the 500 meters, McKenzie was fifth in 2:21.19 and Nuffer sixth in 2:22.07 in the 800 meters; Jessica Venezia was fifth with a 11.03 meter series in the triple jump and Meaghan White was eighth in the 55 meter hurdles.

The Saints 4x400 relay team of Whitney Koch, Kelsey Rebehn, Venezia and Beth Muller, all freshmen, finished seventh in 4:12.28.

The Saints will run at the ECAC championships next weekend.

PAVLUS, PIRINELLI SET RECORDS ON DAY ONE

Feb. 29: First year Wendy Pavlus set the St. Lawrence record in the 5000 and Alyssa Pirinelli improved the record in the weight and both met NCAA provisional qualifying standards in day one action at the NYSCTC Indoor Championships at the Newell Field House.

Pavlus ran 17:35.99, trimming 17 seconds off the record in the 5000 which was set by Kerry Banazek for the lone Saint event win on Friday. She was four seconds under the NCAA provisional standard and beat runner-up Kelsey Conn of Brockport by nearly 20 seconds.

Pirinelli improved her own Saint record in the weight with a second place finish and a throw of 15.89 meters, .28 meters longer than her previous best. The 52-1.75 throw also improved her NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Jessica Venezia was the other Saint individual scorer on Friday with a fourth place finish at 5.06 meters in the long jump.

The Saint Distance Medley Relay team of Katrina Loignon, Elizabeth Atwood, Chelsea McKenzie and Michelle Laframboise, all first-year runners, finished fourth in 12:53.60.

Meaghan White advanced to Saturday’s finals in the 55 hurdles in trial competition on Friday.

The Saints were tied for the lead in the team scoring with Rochester at the end of day one, each with 39 points with Brockport third with 37 in a 15-team field.