Kellon Defends 400 Hurdles Crown, Adds 400 Dash Title

Coaches Select Talented Sophomore as Outstanding Female Track Athlete

HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Goucher produced the first-place finisher in both the 400-meter dash and the 400-meter hurdles today at the 2011 Landmark Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Knox Stadium.

In fact, the same individual won both of those events. She also ran the final leg on Goucher's first-place entry in the 4 x 400-meter relay and also competed in the 4 x 100-meter relay, helping that unit finish in second place.

For accomplishing all of that, sophomore Jaclyn Kellon (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel) was selected the Landmark Conference Female Track Athlete of the Year in balloting by the conference's six head coaches.

Kellon's winning time of :59.32 in the 400 dash is a new outdoor school record and she successfully defended her outdoor conference title in the 400 hurdles by completing the event in 1:05.51.

Goucher took first place in the 4 x 400 and was runner-up in the 4 x 100 at the conference meet for the second year in a row. In the 4 x 400, the quartet of Dana Macaluso (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington), Caitlin Biggers (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Lakeland), Kate Clarke (Hendersonville, Tenn./Pope John Paul II) and Kellon turned in a combined time of 4:08.63; the same four runners were in the 4 x 100 and were clocked at :50.68.

Macaluso also placed third in the 200-meter dash with her time of :27.04, but broke the school record in the event when she was clocked at :26.33 during the trials on Saturday. She placed fourth in the long jump (16'1 1/2").

Abby Cooney (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional) took third place in the hammer throw (128'6") and fourth in the shot put (35'4").

New school records were set by Katelynn Zidanic (York, Pa./Central York) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Hadley Couraud (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) in the 5,000 meters. Zidanic completed her event in 12:12.13, good for fourth place, and Couraud finished the 5000 in 18:59.57 and in fifth place.

Taylor Burr (Addison, Maine/Maranacook Community) placed sixth in the 800 meters (2:26.15) and eighth in the 1,500 meters (4:59.71). Clarke was seventh in the 100-meter dash (:13.57) and Sarah Pardus (Stratham, N.H./Exeter) was seventh in the 5,000 (19:44.30).

The Gophers scored points in 13 of the 20 events and finished in fourth place in the team scoring with a total of 77 points.