PSUGA Primed for USCAA National Meet

Burlington, VT. - After putting in hard work all season long, the Penn State Greater Allegheny Track & Field team is set for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Meet on Saturday at 9 a.m. PSUGA will have nine athletes competing spanning six different events as they look to bring home medals.

In its first season of competition, PSUGA Track & Field has taken off under Head Coach Greg Schmitt. After having only eight athletes to start the season, Schmitt bumped the team up to 13 strong competitors, nine of which qualified for the USCAA Nationals withing the parameters that Schmitt set.

Leading the group is freshman James Plez (Philadelphia, PA./Northeast HS) who will be competing in four different events in Vermont. On the track, he will compete in both the 100-Meter and the 200-Meter Dash while also making up one leg of the 4x400 Meter Relay. He will also be looking to give PSUGA points in the field where he will compete in the Long Jump.

Plez has worked his way up to become one of the fastest runners on the track for PSUGA this season with a 100-Meter tome of 12.18 and a 200-Meter time of 24.94. However, he put a lot of hard work into the Long Jump and was able to qualify jumping over 19 feet and finishing in 6th place at the Slippery Rock Open Invitational last time out.

On the women's side Eladia Kennedy (Pittsburgh, PA./Imani Christian Academy) represents the only female athlete for PSUGA running in both the 100-Meter and the 200-Meter Dash. She has been one of the top runners in the USCAA. She set new PR's in both events last time out running the 100 in 13.70 seconds and coming in at 28.14 in the 200-Meter.

This is the first meet of the season for PSUGA that will involve the team point system. Each team who has a top eight finisher in any event receives points towards their total team score. First place in an event receives 10 points followed by eight for second place, six for third place, five for fourth, four for fifth, and so on. With nine other teams scheduled to be at the meet, PSUGA is looking to grab as many points as they can in their six events.

The day will start with the throwing events at approximately 9:30 a.m. with the field events following shortly there after at 10:15 a.m. PSUGA's first event will be the Men's Shot Put and the Men's Long Jump simultaneously at 9 a.m. Cameron Shaw (South Park, PA./South Park HS), Plez, and Jesse Vargo (North Huntington, PA./Norwin HS).

The USCAA National Meet will take place at The University of Vermont Track & Field in Burlington, Vermont with first events set to begin at 9 a.m. Follow along on Twitter (@PSUGAATHLETICS), Facebook (/PSUGAAthletics), and Instagram (@psugaathletics) for live coverage all day long.