The AU Track team had a productive weekend at the Bucknell Invitational, as senior captain Sean Duffy won the 1500 meter race with a time of 3:43 to lead the Eagles. Also racing in the 1500 were freshman Steve Hallinan, who placed sixth, and Brendan Fennell, in twelfth. In the 5000 meter run, senior Patrick McCadie placed second overall with a time of 14:21, seven seconds behind winner Dave berdan of the University of Elizabethtown. On Saturday, the team competed in the Lou Onesti/ Milton Abramson Invitational at the University of Virginia. Dustin Emrani won the Men's 800 meter run, with a time of 1:50.17, .15 of a second ahead of second place finisher McGavock Dunbar of Virginia. Matt Barresi placed second in the Men's 5000, while McCadie didn't run because of his victory on Friday. For the women, Zaia Wharton had the best finish of the day, placing fourth in the Women's 800 meter with a time of 2:15.44, resgistering the only points of the day for the Eagles. Overall, the women placed 17th in the tournament with 5 points, while the men placed 11th with 23 points. The University of Virginia women won the tournament, as did the Penn State men.
Ending a physically and emotionally draining season, the Women's Tennis team succumbed to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, 6-1, on Friday afternoon. The only Eagle who won was Marissa Hollinger, who beat Gabriela Furdyna, 3-6, 6-4 (10-6). Sophomore Julia Colarusso took the first set over Retrievers' number one player, Ale Pedargnana, but lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-6. All three Eagles' doubles teams, Colarusso and Tessa Hollyn-Taub, Brandi Kligman and Rachael Honig, and Hollinger and Brynne Ward, lost in straight sets, so the Retrievers registered the team point for doubles victories. The loss left the Eagles at 1-16 for the year, 0-5 in league play and they will now prepare for next year, which will be the last year on AU's campus. Many players may be gone, as they transfer to schools with a more stable tennis future. The only senior leaving is Alexandra Zerkalova, who wasn't playing at the end of the season. If all the players stay, AU will have a nice core led by a strong junior class which will feature Colarusso, Hollyn-Taub, Honig, Hollinger and Ward, and senior leadership from Kligman.
The AU Men's Tennis team concluded its regular season with a 6-1 loss at 72nd ranked William and Mary on Saturday. Junior Sebastien Proisy was the only Eagle to win, beating Matt Rubinstein 7-5, 6-7, 1-0. That was the only three-set match, as the Eagles lost in straight sets in the other singles match. In the three contests for the doubles point, Juan Jaysingh and Jeff Schnell won the second match, but the William and Mary team of Alex Fish and Jeff Kader beat Mark Doumba and Juancarlo Vazquez, 8-4 to take the team point. AU's loss dropped them to 15-4 on the year, while the Tribe improved to 8-14 as both teams prepare for postseason play. The Eagles conclude their regular season with a matchup in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Monday afternoon. They have already clinched the number one seed and home court advantage in the PL tournament, which begins Saturday. If the Eagles should win the tournament, they would advance to the NCAA championships and play at a regional site designated by the NCAA.
