Ithaca Seeks Seventh Empire 8 Women's Outdoor Track and Field Title
ROCHESTER, NY – Ithaca College is seeking its fourth consecutive conference title and seventh in the eight-year history of the sport in the conference at the Empire 8 Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship Sunday at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Junior Emma Dewart of the Bombers earned her fourth Empire 8 Field Athlete of the Year honor earlier this season after becoming the second women’s track and field athlete in the program’s history to win a national championship, capturing the pentathlon at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. A four-time All-American, she was also named Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year and won conference titles in the 55-meter hurdles, high jump, and long jump.
Senior Marcia McCord has won six Track Athlete of the Year awards, including the honor in each of her first three outdoor seasons. She qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in three events this season and won the 55- and 200-meter dashes in the indoor conference meet and NYSCTC indoor championship.
The Bombers are currently ranked 15th in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll. Ithaca has seven individual results ranking in the national top-20 and an additional three in the top-30. Dewart, McCord, and senior Kate Leugers combine for the seven top-20 rankings and all are in the top-10 in at least one event.
RIT is coming off a sixth-place finish in the 15-team University of Rochester Invitational this past weekend. Mackenzie Neal won the long jump, an event dominated by the Tigers, who took four of the top six spots. Rachel Zoyhofski is the defending conference champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Senior Laura Barito of Stevens Institute of Technology provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 400-meter hurdles and set a school record in the 100-meter hurdles last weekend. Sophomore Maggie Kowalska earned Rookie of the Year honors in outdoor track in 2010.
First-year student-athlete Katie Wyant of Nazareth College was named Rookie of the Year at the completion of the indoor season.
First-year hurdler Jess Ciraulo of Utica College provisionally qualified for the national championship in the 100-meter hurdles at this past weekend’s Cornell Invitational.
First-year student-athlete Rebecca Graudons of Alfred University won her flight of the triple jump and placed second in the pole vault at Mount Union last weekend.