MUSKINGUM – The men's and women's track and field teams opened the 2016 season at the Muskie Duals, hosted by Muskingum University, on Saturday.
The men were led by senior thrower James Kueber who posted the team's two highest finishes of the meet. Kueber placed third in the shot put with his longest throw of 12.53 meters/41 – 1.5ft out of his five tosses. The senior picked up a second place showing in the discus throw with a long toss of 40.63 meters/33-04 feet to round out the scoring competitors for the Barons.
A pair of freshmen, Nick Long and Grady Stuckman, were the first runners to score for the Barons and had strong finishes in the grueling 10,000 meter run as Long came in fourth with a time of 34.55.40 and Stuckman crossed the line at 36.20.06 for a seventh-place finish.
Freshman Tim Quayle took eighth-place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.39 in his first official collegiate race. Classmate Hunter McDonnell took seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:06.57 in his first race in college as well.
The foursome of Antonio Sierra, David Byers, Martin Wolk and Stuckman added four points for the Barons with a time of 4:33.09 in the 4x400 meter relay to close out the running events for the Barons.
On the women's side, freshman Danielle Busche made her presense known for the Lady Barons on her very first throw of the shot put. Busche tossed an impressive 7.91 meters (25-11.5 feet) on her very first throw of the event to set Franciscan's school record. The old mark of 7.29 meters was set by Sarah Kuenzi in 2011.
On the track, the lady Barons were paced by freshman cross country standout Emily Theurer. Theurer took seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:33.56 before taking fifth in the 1,500-meter run after she crossed the finish line at 5:14.73. Sophomore Deirdre Coyle took seventh in the 1,500-meter run as she followed closely behind with a time of 5:19.79.
Senior Holly Baca finished the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:09.23 to take sixth.
The teams will return to action next week as they travel to Carnegie Mellon on March 26.
