HPU’s Rickert leads women’s track & field at Penn Relays

• Rickert placed second in the javelin with a throw of 49.70m (163-0)
• Sophomore Makenzi Holmes-DiGiovine was sixth in the discus throw (47.64m, 156-3)
• Junior Natalia Ocasio ran 10:38.37 in the 3000m steeplechase to place seventh

PHILADELPHIA – High Point University women’s track & field senior Christine Rickert placed second in the javelin throw to lead the Panthers at the Penn Relays Thursday in the City of Brotherly Love.

Rickert – who is from nearby Lancaster, Pa. – earned the finish in wet and difficult conditions with a throw of 49.70m (163-0), just 0.4 meters behind the first-place finisher. Rickert posted the mark on her final throw of her flight and opened and closed the event with throws of more than 47 meters.

Sophomore Makenzi Holmes-DiGiovine started off the day for the Panthers in the discus throw and put together a solid sixth-place finish with a mark of 47.64m (156-3). She posted the mark on her second throw, then threw more than 46 meters on two of three throws in the final.

Fellow thrower Jamie Schnuck also earned a top-10 finish Thursday, placing seventh in the hammer throw with a top mark of 50.66m (166-2). Schnuck’s performance marked the fourth time in six meets she’s topped 50 meters during the 2016 outdoor season.

On the famed Franklin Field track, junior Natalia Ocasio showed her grit under the lights during her second 3000m steeplechase this week for the Purple & White.

After posting a school-record time of 10:29.27 at the Virginia Challenge Saturday, Ocasio put together another excellent time Thursday in cold and rainy conditions. Her finish in 10:38.37 earned Ocasio a seventh-place showing in an excellent field that included a number of the region’s top runners.

The HPU men take center stage for the Panthers Friday in Philadelphia. HPU’s indoor record-holding DMR team of Nick Hula, Paul O’Donoghue, Vinny Todaro and Alejandro Juan Torres will look to take down the outdoor HPU record at 2:35 p.m. Senior Will Narramore also will take flight in the long jump at 3:30 p.m.