{"articleDetail":{"publishDateDisplay":"March 23, 2014","summary":null,"image":"site://geneva.edu/props/IO/22538/97/trackoutlook.jpg","tagItems":"[]","articleText":"California, PA – Senior Alayna Merkle (Chambersburg, PA) and freshman Bill Oplinger (Kiski Area) both had second place finishes at California University (PA)′s early bird meet to open the outdoor season.\nMerkle finished second in the 800 meters and sixth in the 1500 meters to lead seven Geneva women finishing in the top 10 in nine events. Oplinger finished second in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump to lead 15 Golden Tornadoes men finishing in the top 10 in 19 events. The meet was not scored as a team event but provided a valuable chance to break into the outdoor season.\n“Our plan is to use these first few outdoor meets as tools to evaluate our athletes in a variety of events,” said Geneva track coach Brian Yowler. “It′s a tremendous amount of fun seeing many of our freshmen discover that they can be competitive on the collegiate level.”\nBoth teams will get a chance to build on this opening experience with a meet at Grove City Saturday.\nGeneva athletes that placed in the Top Ten at California University′s Early Bird Meet\nWomen:\nAlayna Merkle, 2nd in 800 meters, 6th in 1500 meters\nAnna Kluitenberg, 4th in 3000 meter steeplechase\nSamantha Fisher, 5th in high jump, 9th in long jump\nRebekah Rupert, 5th in javelin\nMary Keen, 6th in discus\nMorgan Peaco, 6th in high jump\nSarah Foy, 7th in shot put\nMen:\nBill Oplinger, 2nd in triple jump, 5th in long jump\nJacob LaGorga, 3rd in pole vault\nJacob Mellinger, 3rd in 400 meters\nJordan Rupert, 3rd in javelin\nDalton Paxson, 4th in triple jump, 6th in high jump\nJosh Guiser, 5th in 100 meters, 6th in 200 meters\nColin Craig, 6th in triple jump\nKen Kutcel, 6th in 10,000 meter run\nIsaac Barringer, 7th in discus, 9th in shot put\nMatt Pherson, 7th in javelin\nMatt Logan, 8th in discus\nClay Joseph, 9th in triple jump, 10th in long jump\nMichael Savino, 9th in 110 hurdles\n4x100 meter relay finished third – LaGorga, Aaron Marga, Billy Thomas, and Mellinger\nGeneva College invites students to accept the challenge of an academically excellent, Christ-centered education. Offering nearly 40 undergraduate majors, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and campus-based options, and seven graduate degrees, Geneva has programs that place students at the forefront of higher learning. Adhering to the inerrancy of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God′s word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today′s world.","author":null,"publishDate":"2014-03-23","type":"Athletics Press Release","title":"Merkle, Oplinger lead track teams at Cal U","imageDesc":"Merkle, Oplinger lead track teams at Cal U","url":"/article/pr_track32214","blogCategories":"","id":"8bdc1de20a1504317d582674c3e280df","detailUrl":"/news/2014/03/pr_track32214.json","sourcePath":null,"slug":"pr_track32214"}}