RELEASE DATE: 5/1/10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mansfield enjoys awesome day at Cornell -- Mike Gray dual winner -- Bud Plaszenski wins steeplechase with provisional qualifying mark

ITHACA, NY -- Mike Gray won the discus and hammer throw and Bud Plaszenski won the steeplechase to highlight an awesome day for the Mansfield University men's and women's track & field team at the Cornell Outdoor Invitational Saturday.

"It was just an awesome day for us," said head coach Mike Rohl. "Mike (Grey) had his longest throw in two years and Bud (Palszenski) hit a provisional qualifying time in the steeplechase. We had a bunch of other hit conference qualifying marks, school records or personal best. It was an awesome day."

Gray got off his best discus throw in two years with a winning 169-03 effort -- a facility record and the 14th best throw in the nation to date. He also won the hammer throw with a mark of 168-04 and finished second in the shot put with a 51-11.25 heave -- the best of any PSAC athlete this season.

 A freshman, Plaszenski won the steeplechase in a NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time of 9:22.30 while freshman Alexa Tsiknas broke her own school record with a 11-03.25 effort in the pole vault.

Abbie Waltz and Alicia Edkins set school records in the 400 hurdles (1:07.20) and hammer throw (128-02) respectively.

Hitting qualifying times for the upcoming PSAC Championship were Brenae Edwards and Clarissa Cummings and  in the 3000 with times of 10:39.63 and 10:45.45 respectively. Bethany Coons hit a conference qualifying time of 2:24.18 in the 800 while Samatha Kostishak (96-02) and Sarah Bull (93-06) were fifth and seventh in the javelin respectively.

Ryan Detwiller qualified for the PSAC Championship in the high jump (6-04.25) while Casey Aylesworth qualified in the 800 (1:58.19) and Brandon Marlow in the 400 (50.49).

Other strong performances including Chukwumereije Otuonye who finished fourth in the 200 (22.60) and 400 (49.90) meters and Nate MacNabb who was fourth in the 1500 meters (3:56.59).