SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle track & field team kicked off the 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday, starting things off with two events at William Lennox Track at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium in Slippery Rock.
Jenna Uncapher put herself in prime position to challenge for the conference championship in the Heptathlon, ranking second in the 16-athlete field in the event after four events. The highlight of her day came in the High Jump segment, where she tied Edinboro's Jayna Galley and Madeline Newark for the best mark of the day. After being one of just four athletes to clear the bar at 1.55m, Uncapher cleared the bar at 1.58m in her first attempt for 712 points in the event.
Uncapher placed seventh in the 100H to start the day, finishing in a time of 16.20, and the senior hit a PR in the Shot Put with a mark of 10.44 to place fifth in the field. She closed things out with a fourth-place finish in the 200m, winning her heat with a time of 26.67. Uncapher totaled 2700 points in the first four events, just 40 points behind Shippensburg's Nicola Pugge and 43 points ahead of Slippery Rock's Lorna Speigle.
Meanwhile, Leah Perrys best event of the day was the very first. The sophomore stood out in the 100H, placing fifth in the field with a time of 15.80 to score 739 points early. She also did well in the High Jump, clearing the bar at 1.49 to take eighth in the field. After throwing an 8.11m in the Shot Put Perry finished the day strong, placing 10th in the 200m with a time of 27.52. All told, Perry recorded 2424 points in the first four events, placing her 10th in the field.
The day was capped by the 10,000m run, with Allison Farson coming up just eight seconds shy of scoring in the last event of the day. The sophomore distance runner hit a new PR in the event, shaving off two seconds from her previous best to finish in 39:38.81. That was good enough for ninth place in the field, representing a three-place and better than two-minute improvement over her time at last year's Championships.
