Alyssa Kulik Claims Women’s Steeplechase Crown at Penn Relays

April 28, 2011

PHILADELPHIA – Alyssa Kulik won the women’s 3000m steeplechase Thursday to highlight the first day of action for the Tiger track & field program at the 117th Penn Relays from historic Franklin Field. Kulik’s victory came just before 10:00 PM after inclement weather caused a delay in most of the action on Thursday. Kulik was consistent, clocking a time of 10:06.11, just shy of her personal best and school record set just last weekend in Durham, NC at the ACC Outdoor Championships.

Ty McCormack won the collegiate section of the men’s 3000m steeplechase. The freshman out of Gainesville, GA ran a personal best 9:01.10, slightly better than his time recorded a week ago at the ACC Championships. Stephanie Buffo competed in the collegiate section of the steeplechase and had a time of 10:42.60, good enough for fourth place out of 20 participants. Kim Ruck was 17th in the women’s 5K championship with a time of 16:56.27.

The women’s 4x100m relay qualified for the championship final. The team of Misha Morris, who did not make the trip for the Tigers this weekend. Clemson withdrew its women’s 4x400m relay late in the day in order to focus on Friday’s action, which will include the 4×1 final as well as prelims for the 4x200m relay and the championship section of the shuttle hurdle relay.

Sonni Austin ran the 400m hurdles on Thursday. The ACC’s sixth-place finisher in the event clocked a time of 1:00.81 early Thursday morning, the 20th-best time out of 54 hurdlers.

Lauren Terstappen was fourth in the women’s pole vault on Thursday. A freshman from Phoenixville, PA, just outside the city of Philadelphia, she cleared 12’9.5″ in her first visit home since joining the Tiger program. Fellow freshman Christy Gasparino tied for seventh after hitting a jump of 12’5.5″.

The teams return to action on Friday, beginning with the men’s pole vault at 10:00 AM and men’s 4x100m relay prelims at 12:35 PM.