EMAIL THIS PAGE

Men's 4x800m Relay Repeats as Patriot League Champions
Squad sets school record en route to title; Malpigli places second in 10,000m as Ellerhorst advances to 200m final

May 2, 2003 | Results

Sean Duffy's leg of 1:51 put the Eagles 4x800m relay team in the lead for good at the PL Championships.

LEWISBURG, Pa. — Running in the first day of competition at the Patriot League Championships, the 4x800m relay team of Carlos Hunt, Sean Duffy, Phil Gaeta and Sean O'Brien set a new AU school record as the team won the event for the second year in a row, running 7:31.99 to claim the title. Frank Malpigli placed second in the 10,000-meters in 31:30.49.

Hunt ran the first leg for the Eagles and a tight pack with the teams from Army, Bucknell and Lafayette crossed the line together as he handed off in 1:55. Duffy took the baton as the same four teams remained bunched together. Duffy took the lead after the first lap and put a couple of meters on the field with a split of 1:51.

Gaeta ran the third leg for the Eagles and lengthened the lead on the field with a first lap of 53 seconds. Gaeta split 1:51 to hand off to O'Brien with a two second lead. O'Brien was never threatened during his leg, running 1:53 to lead the team to victory by nearly three seconds.

Since American entered the Patriot League in 2001, the Eagles have claimed every 4x800m relay in both the indoor and outdoor Patriot League Championships.

Running in the 10,000m, Malpigli, Danny Maurer and Matt Barresi all placed themselves in top pack of 11 runners through the first two miles. Only one runner fell off the pace in the third mile as the pack ran 5:09 and 16:12 for the first 5k.

Just before the fourth mile, Dan Lounsbury of Bucknell took pace and put a couple of seconds on the field, breaking up the pack. Malpigli followed Colgate's Xavier deBoissezon as they closed the pack and formed a pack of three up front. Maurer and Bucknell's Wes Reinhardt gave chase in fourth and fifth place. Barresi battled with Kevin Fortkiewicz of Bucknell for sixth place.

deBoissezon claimed the lead with six laps to go, but Lounsbury and Malpigli ran close behind. deBoissezon began to lengthen his lead as Malpigli covered his move and Lounsbury fell off the pace. Maurer continued to battle with Reinhardt as Barresi pulled away from Fortkiewicz and strengthened his hold on sixth place.

As deBoissezon and Malpigli continued to lead, Reinhardt made a strong move to take over third place from Lounsbury as Maurer held onto fifth and Barresi was in sixth. deBoissezon made a move with 800m remaining to take control of the race. Malpigli held onto second place, running 31:30.37 as Maurer and Barresi claimed fifth and sixth, respectively. Maurer's time of 32:08.07 moves him to third all-time while Barresi's mark of 32:12.57 has him fourth.

In the 200m trials, Andy Ellerhorst got out to a good start and came on strong in the final 50m to qualify for tomorrow's final on time, after running 21.99. The 200m final will be run tomorrow at 4:10 p.m.

The Patriot League Championships continue tomorrow with the final day of the competition beginning at noon.