April 6, 2008

BIG RAPIDS - The Lake Superior State foursome of senior DJ Battistella, sophomore Evan Williams, freshman Eric Ouellette and sophomore Paul Davis edged a highly-touted Grand Valley State "A" team to win the men's 4x400-meter relay at Saturday's Bulldog Invitational.

DJ Battistella

Paul Davis

LSSU clocked a time of 3:22.20, finishing a half second ahead of GVSU. Battistella ran a :50.03 split, and was followed by Williams (:50.97), Ouellette (:49.60) and Davis (:50.81).

"They all ran very well," LSSU coach Steve Eles said. "That was a very good time for their first race of the year."

Another impressive factor was that the Lakers won the even without quarter-mile specialist Adam Smith, who is red-shirting this season.

Davis also won the 200-meter dash with a time of :22.11 and broke a four-year-old school record of :22.32.

Battistella was also fifth in the 400-meter hurdles (:56.95), while freshman Rick Koon placed fourth in the high jump (6-2), fifth in the long jump (21-2) and seventh in the triple jump (40-8 ¾). Tom Thornton place eighth in the 5,000-meter run (15:55.32).

LSSU's Katie Scott won the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:43.47 and tied for fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:39.60. Ashley Quick was seventh in the 3,000, finishing in 10:58.09.

Sophomore Jill Walton, who missed the basketball season due to a knee injury, broke her own school shot put record with a toss of 39-6. She also set a new javelin record of 93-2 during the second attempt of the season and her career. She placed eighth and 14th in the two events, respectively.

Sophomore Amanda Pieczynski improved upon her own 200-meter dash record, placing seventh in :26.88. Freshman Taylor Patton was second in the triple jump (35-4), and eighth in the high jump (5-0) and long jump (15-4). Freshman Angela Perry placed seventh in the 5,000-meter run (20:45.92).

"This speaks pretty well for our athletes, who were competing against a good field," Eles added.

LSSU Women's Results (Unofficial)
100-meter dash: 14. Amanda Pieczynski, :13.15; 19. Chelsea Childs, :13.65
200-meter dash: 7. Pieczynski, :26.88; 32. Childs, :29.31
400-meter dash: 12. Pieczynski, 1:02.24
1,500-meter run: 21. Marissa Ingle, 5:28.35; 27. Alysa Smith, 5:47.17; 29. Jessi Theisen, 5:59.46
3,000-meter run: 4-tie. Katie Scott, 10:39.60; 7. Ashley Quick, 10:58.09; 18. Theisen, 12:02.46; 26. Stacey Leyder, 12:30.27
5,000-meter run: 7. Angela Perry, 20:45.92
100-meter hurdles: 25. Kayla Smith, :20.16
3,000-meter steeplechase: 1. Scott, 11:43.47
4x100-meter relay: 7. LSSU, :54.84
4x400-meter relay: 8. 4:23.09
High jump: 8. Taylor Patton, 5-0
Long jump: 8. Patton, 15-4
Triple jump: 2. Patton, 35-4
Shot put: 8. Jill Walton, 39-6; 21. Mary McLeod, 35-2 ½; 25. Kimberlee Booms, 34-0 ¾; 29. Cassandra Vitton, 31-5 ¼
Javelin throw: 14. Walton, 93-2; 17. McLeod, 85-5; 27. Vitton, 67-5; 31. Patton, 52-3
Hammer throw: 21. McLeod, 93-5; 24. Booms, 85-2; 25. Vitton, 75-0.

LSSU Men's Results (Unofficial)
200-meter dash: 1. Paul Davis, :22.11; 38. Miles Ouimette, :25.68
800-meter run: 22. Zach Lynch, 2:04.45
1,500-meter run: 35. Evan Williams, 4:19.94; 41. Eric Ouellette, 4:24.06; 51. Jason Ferguson, 4:37.35
5,000-meter run: 8. Tom Thornton, 15:55.32; 15. Kevin Macomber, 16:13.49; 16. Luke Allen, 16:17.12; 22. Jake Hoover, 16:31.09; 31. Lucas Pease, 17:39.70; 34. Alex Gustafson, 19:01.90
110-meter hurdles: 10. John Preczewski, :16.53
400-meter hurdles: 5. DJ Battistella, :56.95; 19. Preczewski, 1:04.13
3,000-meter steeplechase: 11. Hoover, 10:13.83; 25. Joe Cantwell, 11:07.00
4x100-meter relay: 6. LSSU, :43.88
4x400-meter relay: 1. LSSU, 3:22.20
High jump: 4. Rick Koon, 6-2; 11. Preczewski, 6-0
Long jump: 5. Koon, 21-2
Triple jump: 7. Koon, 40-8 ¾
Shot put: 23. Jordan Romel, 39-11 ½; 28. Brian Pyle, 35-8 ½
Javelin throw: 19. Romel, 101-7; 20. Pyle, 100-4
Hammer throw: 16. Romel, 135-0; 24. Pyle, 109-7