Oakland's Mack and Vitella, YSU's Rupe and Detroit's Bayles Secure Outdoor Track and Field Weekly Honors

Indianapolis – Youngstown State senior Eric Rupe (West Jefferson, Ohio) and Oakland junior Candice Mack (Rochester, Mich.) have been named Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Runners of the Week while Oakland junior Gino Vitella (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Detroit sophomore Ashley Bayles (Adrian, Mich.) have been named Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Athletes of the Week for the period of March 23-29.

Rupe opened the outdoor season with a strong race in the 1,500 meters at the Raleigh Relays. The runner-up in last year’s Horizon League Outdoor Championships in the event started 2015 by placing 15th out of 120 competitors with a career-best time of 3:51.28. He finished 11th in the event amongst collegiate runners and his time was the second-fastest time in YSU history.

Mack also opened the outdoor season at the Raleigh Relays and like Rupe started with a personal-best time as she broke Oakland’s school record with a time of 57.18 in the 400 meter dash. Mack placed 16th out of 119 runners in the event.

Vitella earned men’s field athlete of the week honors after his shot put efforts this past weekend resulted in the top mark in the Horizon League in the outdoor season thus far. Vitella placed seventh out of 52 competitors in the event with a distance of 16.33 meters.

Bayles was the women’s field athlete of the week. The sophomore won the discus event at the Winthrop Invitational, besting the other 49 competitors with a career-best throw of 43.06 meters. The toss is the best in the Horizon League this season and ranks as the fourth-best throw in Titan history. Bayles also competed in the shot put at Winthrop, finishing in 10th place out of 69 entries with a throw of 12.25 meters.

Top Runners of the Week:
Alex Bashqawi, UIC (Fr., Elmhurst, Ill.) – Bashqawi finished 31st out of 120 runners at the Raleigh Relays in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:54.80.
Louisa Coppola, Detroit (Grad., Warren, Mich.) – Coppola won the 5,000 meter run at the Winthrop Invitational, besting the other 48 competitors with a time of 17:29.70. It was her sixth individual victory of the season, including the indoor season.
Aaron Davis, Oakland (So., Detroit, Mich.) – Davis finished in sixth at the Raleigh Relays in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.34.
Tess Ehrhardt, UIC (Sr., Geneva, Ill.) – Ehrhardt competed in the 1,500 meter run at the Raleigh Relays, finishing with a time of 4:43.63.
Nina Grambling, Youngstown State (Jr., Canton, Ohio) – Grambling finished third out of 88 sprinters, just .08 behind the winner, in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.88 at the Raleigh Relays.
Brittany Jones, Wright State (Jr., Tucson, Ariz.) – Jones placed third in the 100 meter hurdles and the 400 meter hurdles at the Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open. She also finished third in the long jump.
Ben Kendell, Detroit (Fr., Huntington Woods, Mich.) – Kendell won the 5,000 meter run over 38 other competitors with a time of 14:54.27 in his outdoor debut. He finished seventh in the 1,500 meter event with a time of 4:07.60.
Marcus Paulson, Milwaukee (Sr., Sussex, Wis.) – Paulson won the 5,000 meter run at the SIU Bill Cornell Spring Classic in a school record time of 14:32.82 set back in 2010. It’s the second fastest time in the 5,000 meter outdoor event in the Horizon League this season.

Top Athletes of the Week:
Brandy Daniels, Wright State (So., Elyria, Ohio) – Daniels won the long jump at the Yellow Jacket Collegiate Open with a jump of 5.16 meters.
Jacob Frey, Valparaiso (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) – Frey finished 11th out of 48 entries at the Raleigh Relays with a distance of 55.90 meters.
Dan Hinspeter, UIC (Jr., Hinsdale, Ill.) – Hinspeter finished 16th at the Raleigh Relays in long jump with distance of 19’ 4.25”.
Eric Lewis, Detroit (Sr., Eastpointe, Mich.) – Lewis finished third in the hammer throw at the Winthrop Invitational with a throw of 54.29 meters and 11th in the discus with a throw of 39.98 meters.
Jennifer Neider, Youngstown State (Jr., Hermitage, Pa.) – Neider finished fifth out of 41 competitors at the Raleigh Relays in shot put with a distance of 12.94 meters.
Connor Neu, Youngstown State (So., Brooke Park, Ohio) – Neu placed sixth out of 48 entries in the hammer throw at the Raleigh Relays with a distance of 60.34 meters.
Jazmin Taylor, Valparaiso (Sr., Rock Island, Ill.) – Taylor won the high jump at the Raleigh Relays. She cleared 1.65 meters, out jumping the other 21 entries by .05 meters.