Sydnor, Hauf win events; Woelfling named Field Athlete of the Meet
5/13/2023 8:33:00 PM | Women's Outdoor Track and Field
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Aubrey Sydnor won the 400-meter dash, Darian Hauf won the pole vault, and Hannah Woelfling was recognized as the PSAC Championships Field Athlete of the Meet as Millersville scored its sixth top-three finish in the last seven years.
Millersville finished with 113 points--the exact same amount it scored when it won the 2022 championship. The difference between second and third place came down to the final event--the 4x400-meter relay. In 2018 and 2019, Millersville won that event to finish as the meet runner-up, but this time, Shippensburg used a meet record time of 3:47.14 to win the relay, and Cal U's All-American Divonne Franklin erased a significant deficit to finish second. Millersville's own record-setting anchor Sydnor running a 55.6 split, the Marauders held on to third, but the four-point swing pushed the Raiders in front of Millersville by two in the team scoring.
Still, Millersville finished the three-day meet with four individual titles, a 1-2 finish in the 400 and nine All-PSAC (top three) finishes.
"We are happy but not satisfied, I would say," said head coach Andy Young. "We were close to winning and close to a team trophy, but those other teams were just a little bit better today. Overall, I'm very proud of this group. They exceeded team expectations as far as points. A lot of people really stepped up."
Among those who did on Saturday were Sydnor and freshman Shelby Derkosh in the 400. Sydnor, the runner-up a year ago and the favorite coming in, delivered a program record and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 55.76, pulling away early and coasting to the finish line for her first PSAC title. Derkosh smashed her own PR, running a 56.63 for a runner-up finish.
Hauf, only a sophomore, repeated as the PSAC champ in the pole vault. She cleared 12-6 on her third and final attempt at the height, contacting the bar but not enough to knock it down. No other vaulter in the field could match that 12-6. Teammate Megan Malecki out-performed her seed, clearing 11-8 for a sixth-place finish and three team points.
"Darian did what she needed to do to win today," said Young. "Hopefully we clean a few things up, and she gets accepted to the NCAA Championships.
Currently, Hauf ranks 19th in Division II with a season-best mark of 12-11 1/2.
In the field events, Woelfling posted her third NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the meet by hitting 46-4 1/2 in the shot put and finishing as the runner-up. It was her best-ever finish in the event and her third All-PSAC finish of the championships. That was good enough for coaches to vote her the field athlete of the meet for the second season in a row. Sarah Hessler took sixth in the shot put with a toss of 42-0 1/2. It was Hessler's second scoring performance of the meet.
Cassie Sharrow contributed a point to the team total with an eighth-place finish in the javelin. She hit a PR of 128-10.
The best may be yet to come for this Marauders program. While Woelfling, Holloman, Sharrow and Sullivan graduated and take with them significant scoring performances, the Marauders expect to return 12 athletes who scored at the PSAC Championships an numerous others who qualified and just missed out on finals. Millersville qualified a record 30 athletes in 2023.
"We have a strong group returning, but it will take some work to replace this group of seniors," said Young. "The future is bright."
Millersville finished with 113 points--the exact same amount it scored when it won the 2022 championship. The difference between second and third place came down to the final event--the 4x400-meter relay. In 2018 and 2019, Millersville won that event to finish as the meet runner-up, but this time, Shippensburg used a meet record time of 3:47.14 to win the relay, and Cal U's All-American Divonne Franklin erased a significant deficit to finish second. Millersville's own record-setting anchor Sydnor running a 55.6 split, the Marauders held on to third, but the four-point swing pushed the Raiders in front of Millersville by two in the team scoring.
Still, Millersville finished the three-day meet with four individual titles, a 1-2 finish in the 400 and nine All-PSAC (top three) finishes.
"We are happy but not satisfied, I would say," said head coach Andy Young. "We were close to winning and close to a team trophy, but those other teams were just a little bit better today. Overall, I'm very proud of this group. They exceeded team expectations as far as points. A lot of people really stepped up."
Among those who did on Saturday were Sydnor and freshman Shelby Derkosh in the 400. Sydnor, the runner-up a year ago and the favorite coming in, delivered a program record and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 55.76, pulling away early and coasting to the finish line for her first PSAC title. Derkosh smashed her own PR, running a 56.63 for a runner-up finish.
"That was a strong, 1-2 finish performance," said Young. "Aubrey shattered our school record while getting pushed hard by Shelby."Millersville goes 1-2 in the 400!
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) May 13, 2023
🥇 Aubrey Sydnor breaks a school record and hits an NCAA qualifying time at 55.76!
🥈 Shelby Derkosh runs a 56.63 PR in her first PSAC Championships! pic.twitter.com/CJwNiEVLWE
Hauf, only a sophomore, repeated as the PSAC champ in the pole vault. She cleared 12-6 on her third and final attempt at the height, contacting the bar but not enough to knock it down. No other vaulter in the field could match that 12-6. Teammate Megan Malecki out-performed her seed, clearing 11-8 for a sixth-place finish and three team points.
"Darian did what she needed to do to win today," said Young. "Hopefully we clean a few things up, and she gets accepted to the NCAA Championships.
Currently, Hauf ranks 19th in Division II with a season-best mark of 12-11 1/2.
Millersville received a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles from De'Asia Holloman as she earned her first career outdoor All-PSAC finish. Aurora Conrad placed seventh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.35. She and Emma Elwell took sixth and seventh respectively in the 200-meter dash. Abbey Sullivan gave the Marauders two points with a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter run, posting a time of 2:21.83. Morgan Janiuk, who ran two races on Saturday, placed fifth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:42.18.Two-time PSAC Pole Vault CHAMP, Darian Hauf! 🥇🥇 pic.twitter.com/0VNPR72yyr
— Millersville Marauders (@VilleMarauders) May 13, 2023
In the field events, Woelfling posted her third NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the meet by hitting 46-4 1/2 in the shot put and finishing as the runner-up. It was her best-ever finish in the event and her third All-PSAC finish of the championships. That was good enough for coaches to vote her the field athlete of the meet for the second season in a row. Sarah Hessler took sixth in the shot put with a toss of 42-0 1/2. It was Hessler's second scoring performance of the meet.
Cassie Sharrow contributed a point to the team total with an eighth-place finish in the javelin. She hit a PR of 128-10.
The best may be yet to come for this Marauders program. While Woelfling, Holloman, Sharrow and Sullivan graduated and take with them significant scoring performances, the Marauders expect to return 12 athletes who scored at the PSAC Championships an numerous others who qualified and just missed out on finals. Millersville qualified a record 30 athletes in 2023.
"We have a strong group returning, but it will take some work to replace this group of seniors," said Young. "The future is bright."
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Saturday, April 06
3x PSAC Champ Hannah Woelfling and Coach B talk about the record-setting performance
Thursday, May 11
PSAC Track & Field Championships Preview with Coach Andy Young
Thursday, May 11
Highlights: 40th Millersville Metrics
Tuesday, April 04
