Ithaca Wins Second Straight Men's Outdoor Track and Field State Title
Troy, N.Y. --The Bombers moveed up from second place to take the team title at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference (NYSCTC) Championships on Saturday. Ithaca finished with 220 points, 35 more than host Rensselaer. Juniors Jeff Wetmore (Bemus Point/Maple Grove) and Max Orenstein (Trumbull/Trumbull) provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-meter dash, with both running faster than the previous record in the event.
Orenstein took first in the 200 at 21.51, with Wetmore close behind in second at 21.55. The previous Ithaca record was 21.56, set by Wetmore at the 2009 NYSCTC Championships. The two currently rank third and fourth in the nation in the event.
The pair switched places in the 100-meter dash, with Wetmore finishing first at 10.89 and Orenstein second at 10.92. Both qualified for the ECAC Championships. They were also members of two-ECAC qualifying relays. They were joined by junior Brian Turnbull (Barnstable/Osterville, Mass.) and freshman Chris Mastrosimone (Fairport/Fairport) on the winning 400-meter relay team that ran 42.14 and by Mastrosimone and sophomore Doug Koury (Nashoba/Stow, Mass.) on the runner-up 1,600-meter relay team that ran 3:20.69.
Mastrosimone, who qualified for the NCAA Championships in the preliminaries of the 400-meter dash on Friday, placed second in Saturday's final at 48.78. Koury ran an ECAC-caliber 50.01 to place fifth in the event.
Koury also placed second in the high jump at 1.93 meters, qualifying for ECAC's in that event as well.
Elsewhere in the field events, the Bombers took the top three spots in the triple jump. Junior Kyle Devins (Ausable Valley/Peru) took first with an ECAC-qualifying jump of 14.08 meters, sophomore Eric Ambrosino (Cape Henry Collegitae/Virginia Beach, Va.) second at 13.25 meters and freshman Dan Purcell (Sauquoit Valley/Sauquoit) third at 13.23 meters.
Ithaca had three other ECAC-qualifying performances in the meet: Sophomore Dan Moloney (Somers/Somers) took third in the 400-meter hurdles, while seniors Curt Bell (Marcellus/Marcellus) and Scott Walker (Midland Park/Midland Park, N.J.) took fourth and sixth in the 1,500-meter run at 4:01.15 and 4:01.59, respectively.
Orenstein was named Runner of the Meet with Mastrosimone named NYSCTC Rookie of the Year. Head coach Jim Nichols was named conference Coach of the Year.
The Bombers next compete Friday and Saturday at the Last Chance Meet on New York's Randall's Island.