Parsons runs NCAA provisional time at YSU

The Edinboro women’s indoor track and field team battled through tough travel conditions this past weekend, making the trek to Youngstown State University worth their time. The Friday and Saturday stint at the YSU Collegiate Invitational had them squaring off against a strong field of competitors that even consisted of numerous Division I programs.

The most notable performance of the weekend came from junior Stefanie Parsons, who took second overall in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:13.69. That performance sets the bar as the fastest 800-meter run by any PSAC athlete so far this season, and it was also an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Parsons has big goals for this spring, as she stated that she wants to qualify for the NCAA Championships and continue to improve on her times at every meet or invitational.

“Having good results early on in the season is very rewarding, especially knowing the work that we put in,” she said. Parsons was recently named to the PSAC Top Ten team for the fall season, which honored both her performance in cross country and her academic success.

Head coach Anne Cleary noted that many runners were able to improve their times from the last meet to the YSU Invitational. On season goals, she said, “Over the next month and a half to two months, we just need to keep getting a little better each week.”

Freshmen were a major part of Edinboro’s success in a stacked field of competitors. Wiltricia Snoh continued a strong start to her freshman campaign, running a PSAC qualifying time of 7.95 seconds in the 60-meter dash (good for 16th overall). This is the second individual event that she has qualified for, only a month into her career as a Fighting Scot. Her time of 26.58 seconds in the 200-meter dash at last week’s Oberlin Dan Kinsley Invitational was a PSAC qualifying time, as well.

Kimberly Goerss, meanwhile, registered a time of 5:11.81 in the 1600-meter (1 mile) run to qualify for the PSAC Championships. Goerss has now qualified for two PSAC Championship events; she ran a 2:36.37 in the 800-meter run at Oberlin.

Other notable performers were Bailee Miara and Abby Piert. Miara, another member of the Fighting Scots freshman class, placed 27th in the 60-meter dash and was a member of the 4x400-meter relay team that placed 19th. Piert ran a strong 60.96 seconds in the 400-meter run to finish in 24th place.

Cleary is happy with the way the team performed at the invite and how they’ve performed this season, but she wants to keep getting better. “We are really only worried about being better than we were at the same time last year.”

Next up for the women’s team is when they host the Al Hall Freedom Games at the Mike S. Zafirovsky Sports and Recreation Dome on Saturday.
PSAC qualifying times will come into play in late April, when the conference championships are held right here at Edinboro.

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