Competing in weather that seemed more like July than March, the Geneva College spring athletic teams took full advantage of the sunshine. The track team opened its outdoor season with a meet at Muskingum College while the baseball and softball teams each hosted a pair of weekend doubleheaders after returning from the Florida sun earlier in the week.

In the outdoor track and field opener, the Geneva College throwers stole the show. A total of six throwers qualified for the NCCAA national meet in the first meet of the season. On the womenâ??s side, Liz MIchalak (javelin), Katherine Michalak (shot put), Kathryn Regalado (shot put) and Mary Keen (Discus) all qualified nationally. For the men, Jordan Rupert (javelin) and Tyler French (shot put) each managed to qualify. Rupertâ??s qualifying throw came on his first collegiate effort. The only non-thrower to qualify nationally was Nick Edinger, who took home first place in the menâ??s 5000 meter race. Geneva took home first place in both the menâ??s and womenâ??s 5000 meter race as Alayna Merkle pulled out a victory on the womenâ??s side with a mark of 19:25.30.

In other womenâ??s action, Jamie Mahan, Lydia Reyle and Jakayla Anderson finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the 400 meter event. Shannon Rech and Heidi Steiner each finished in the top six in the 3000 meter race while Emily Hoobler finished second to Merkle in the 5000 meter event. The menâ??s team also had some solid performances including Nick Agostinelliâ??s fifth place finish in the 100 meter dash. Josh Guiser finished fourth in the 200 meter race while also finishing fourth in the 400 meter event. Geneva;s Chez Anderson came in fifth place in the 800 meter race with Owen Struck placing fourth in the 1500 meter race. Chuck Walters turned in a solid performance which was good enough for fifth place behind Edinger in the 5000 meter event. In addition to the success in the throwing event, the menâ??s team featured a second place overall finish in the 3000 steeplechase from Charles Parker with a time of 10:56.45.

Genevaâ??s baseball team won three out of four games this weekend against Houghton College to improve to 8-6 on the season. In the final doubleheader of the Florida trip last Monday, the Golden Tornadoes swept a conference doubleheader from Bethany College to sit atop the PAC standings with a mark of 2-1. Mike Jeffreys won both of his pitching outings last week. He held the Bison to just three hits in a conference victory on Monday than posted a two-hit shut-out win over Houghton to improve his season record to 3-0. Adam Scheiderer highlighted an 11-hit attack in game two against Bethany as the Golden Tornadoes rallied from a 6-1 deficit to overtake the Bison. In similar fashion, Geneva came back from a 6-0 deficit in the seventh inning of game two on Friday against Houghton. Geneva scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to steal the victory. Joel Gattiâ??s two-run homer in game one on Friday proved to be the difference in a 2-0 victory.

Genevaâ??s softball team split its final doubleheader in Florida last Monday to even its southern mark at 6-6. On Friday, Geneva swept a doubleheader with Houghton by scores of 10-0 and 1-0. Julie DiLonardo went all but one inning of shut-out pitching. Tying Genevaâ??s all-time record for pitching victories on Friday, DiLonardo broke the mark with her 52nd career win in a 4-1 decision over Point Park in game two of a split with the Pioneers. DiLonardo has won eight games and has struck out 94 batters in 94 innings of work. Offensively, Ashley Davis leads Geneva with a .442 batting average. It was Lori Deemâ??s two-run single in game two on Saturday that broke a scoreless tie against the Pioneers.

Following is the complete athletic schedule for the upcoming week:

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