WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's track and field team is finishing its preparations for the beginning of the 2025 Outdoor season on Friday afternoon when the Golden Rams host the first day of the two-day Purple and Gold Invitational on South Campus.
This weekend's meet, which will span two days in John A. Farrell Stadium, is the first of three home meets for West Chester this spring as the Golden Rams will host the Bill Butler Invitational on April 11-12 and before concluding the regular season slate with a last chance meet on Friday, May 2.
In between its home meets, West Chester will head to Widener for the Danny Curran Invitational on March 28 and 29, William & Mary for the Colonial Relays on April 4 and 5, while also visiting Ursinus that same weekend. West Chester will also head to the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell on April 11 and 12, the Paul Donahue Invitational on April 18 and 19, and the 129th Running of the Penn Relays on April 24-26. All this will build up to the PSAC Outdoor Championships at Slippery Rock in May, as the Championships will get underway on May 8 and conclude on the 10
th. West Chester will also hope to qualify for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Colorado State-Pueblo May 22-24.
West Chester heads into the outdoor season looking to build off its momentum from the 2024-25 Indoor season, which concluded with a ninth-place finish at the PSAC Championships at Rauch Field House on the campus of Lehigh University.
At the indoor championships,
Damian Simpson (Easton, Pa./Wilson) led the sprinters with a fourth-place finish in 6.88 seconds in the 60, while
Amarre Mayo (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) led the way in the 200 with a time of 22.69 seconds.
The Golden Rams distance crew will look to build off its continued momentum from a strong cross-country season and a strong showing at the Indoor Championships, led by a 10
th-place finish in the 800 (1:58.58) from
Billy Zane (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and a seventh-place finish in the mile (4:23.13) from
Josh Miller (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) . Miller and Zane also teamed with
Matt Remishofski (Wall, N.J./Wall) and David Burnshaw (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) to finish fourth in the Distance Medley Relay (DMR) in 10:19.12.
Miller also scored points for West Chester at the outdoor championships a year ago, finishing seventh in the 5000 with a time of 15:08.93.
In field events,
Sammy Jenkins (Malvern, Pa./Conestoga) and
Chase Parkinson (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) led the Golden Rams in jumps as Jenkins finished 10
th in the pole vault with a mark of 13 feet 9 ¼ inches, while Parkinson took ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 45-3 ¾ and 12
th in the long jump at 22-1.
Derrick Lukomski-Pizzo (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) who enjoyed an outstanding 2024 outdoor season, which included a second-place finish in the discus (172-8) at the Outdoor Championships, led West Chester in the shot put and weight throw at the indoor championships, finishing seventh in the shot put with a mark of 51-4 ¼ while taking 10
th in the weight throw with a mark of 50-3 ¼.
West Chester will get its Outdoor season underway on Friday afternoon with the triple jump and hammer throw highlighting field events along with the 5 and 10K on the track. Track events will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning with the 3K Steeplechase, while discus and long jump will lead off the field events at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
