Ithaca Men's T&F Team Claims Eighth Straight Empire 8 Outdoor Crown

Ithaca Men's T&F Team Claims Eighth Straight Empire 8 Outdoor Crown

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Results

The Ithaca College men's track & field team won its 10th Empire 8 Outdoor Track & Field Championship Saturday at St. John Fisher's Polisseni Track and Field Complex. The Bombers, who secured their eighth straight title, have won 10 of the 11 crowns contested. Ithaca outscored the second-place team by 72 points with a total of 196 points.

St. John Fisher junior Eric Riley was named the Championship's Male Field Athlete of the Meet after winning the long jump and setting a new Fisher record in the process at 7.11 meters.  Riley earned another 10 points for Fisher, setting a new College-record in the high jump at 1.98 meters to win that event as well.
 
Utica junior hurdler Shane Ruffing won both the 110 and 400 meter hurdles with times of 15.16 and 56.10, while collecting 20 total team points for the Pioneers. For his efforts he was named the Track Athlete of the Meet. 


ITHACA
The Bombers hit five ECAC qualifiers during the meet and earned 12 all-conference honors by virtue of five first- and seven second-place finishes.
 
Junior Rashaad Barrett won the 100-meter dash in an ECAC-qualifying 11.01. He also ran second in the 200 with a time of 22.63. Barrett teamed with sophomore Aaron Matthias and juniors Kevin Davis and Tyler Curtis to claim the 4x100 relay title in an ECAC-qualifying 43.05.
 
Ithaca claimed gold and silver in the 5,000 and the pole vault. Sophomore Sawyer Hitchcock won the 5K in 15:15.86, while freshman Sean Phillips followed in 15:28.52. Ithaca took the top four places in the vault. Seniors Jarrod Monacelli and Steven Episcopo finished first and second with clears of 4.25 and 4.10 meters, respectively.
 
Sophomore De'Marquis Graves placed second in both the long jump and the triple jump, hitting the ECAC qualifier in the latter. Graves had a mark of 13.55 meters in the triple and a leap of 6.61 meters in the long.
 
Sophomore Stephen Gomez won the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:55.48.  
 
Senior Christian Stremmel placed second in the hammer throw with a toss of 42.16 meters and junior Mason Mann crossed the finish line of the 800 in 1:59.00 to place second.


UTICA
Sophomore stand out Corey Zlatniski (Mattituck, NY/Mattituck) continued his solid performance on the track with two championship victories.  He recorded 20 team points, winning the 800 with a time of 1:57.68 and he broke his own school-record with a time of 4:02.61 in the 1500 meter competition.

The team of Trevor Gibson (Youngstown, OH/Springfield), Ruffing, Christian St. Amour (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) and Hoover placed third in the 4x100 meter relay with a time of 45.16. Zlatniski, Hoover, Gibson and St. Amour posted a season-best time of 3:28.22 and placed second in the 4x400 meter relay.

Hoover took home fourth in the 110 meter hurdle finals with a time of 15.86 and he also added fourth place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a finish of 58.58.

Sophomore Sam Anderson (Brantingham, NY/South Lewis) posted eight points in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a personal best time of 10:03.16, placing second, while freshman thrower Sam Bonk (Williamsville, NY/Clarence) also tallied eight points and a second place finish in the shot put with a toss of 13.86 meters.

Sophomore jumper Rob Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) grabbed another eight points for UC in the high jump with a leap of 1.98 meters, which tied his own school, facility and meet record. Tutein originally set the record last season at this same meet. Freshman Rayshawn Scott (Mays Landing, NJ/Buena Regional) placed fourth in the high jump with a leap of 1.93 meters.

Scott also took home first place in the men's triple jump with a leap of 14.00 meters. Freshman Andrew Russell (Watertown, NY/Watertown) added a second place finish in the men's discuss with a personal collegiate best throw of 42.46. Bonk placed right behind Russell in the discus with a toss of 40.89 meters.

Senior William Bailey (East Granby, CT/East Granby) placed fourth in the men's hammer throw with personal best toss of 41.68 meters.  Freshman Christian St. Amour(Syracuse, NY/Westhill) placed sixth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.33 and he was also the Pioneers top finisher in the 200 meter dash with a sixth place time of 22.90.


ST. JOHN FISHER
In the 100 meter-dash, sophomore Joe D'Agostino picked up eight points, finishing second in the event.  D'Agostino qualified for the finals with a Fisher-record time of 10.68 seconds in the semifinal round.  Devin Cornelius placed fourth in the event as well with a time of 11.22 seconds.

D'Agostino also won the 200 later in the day, posting a time of 22.40 seconds, setting another Fisher record in the process.

Trevor Wilkes won the 400 for Fisher with a season-best time of 49.76.  Freshman James McDowell took fifth in the event as well.

Chris Wehner and Will Sterriker finished 2nd and 3rd in the 110-hurdles, picking up 14 points for the Cardinals.  Wehner posted a time of 15.59 seconds, while Sterriker finished at 15.86 seconds.

Sterriker also competed in the 400 hurdles and placed second in the event with a season-best time of 56.68 seconds.  Dylan Cassidy finished fifth in the event as well.

Kyle Koehler won the shot put with a season-best throw of 14.25 meters.  Kyle Barry placed fifth in both the shot put and the hammer throw, racking up four total points.  Kyle Blessing carried over his strong performance in the discus, capturing his first-ever Empire 8 title on Saturday.

Fisher's 4X100 relay team (Wilkes, D'Agostino, Riley and Cornelius) placed fourth overall, as did the 4X400 squad (Wilkes, Riley, Sterriker, Cornelius).

Cornelius was fifth in the pole vault at 3.65 meters.  Evan Magnussen placed sixth in the 5,000, finishing in 15:55.


STEVENS
The Stevens Institute of Technology men's outdoor track & field team compiled 59 points to finish fourth overall at the Empire 8 Conference Championships hosted by St. John Fisher College on Saturday.

Ithaca College claimed the team title with 196 points, while Utica College finished second with 124 points. St. John Fisher took third with 112.

Stevens' javelin throwers put together the best showing at the championships with seconds-thru-fifth place finishes. Freshman Paul Caplan (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) took second with a throw of 50.41 meters (165 feet, 5 inches), while classmate Owen Burke (Elizabeth, N.J.) followed in third at 49.70 meters (163' 1"). Junior David Krier (South Brunswick, N.J.) placed fourth with a mark of 49.65 meters (162' 11") and senior Benny Scotto (Washington, N.J.) came in fifth with a toss of 48.85 meters (160' 3").

Freshman Nicholas Zickgraf (Kenilworth, N.J.) posted the top finish in track events with a second place showing in the 1,500-meter race in a time of 4:03.04. Junior Matthew Bombard (Wayne, N.J.) came in third overall with a time of 10:06.53 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Bombard also ran on the sixth place 4x400-meter relay team that finished in a time of 3:35.15. Sophomore Tom Halloran (Oakland, N.J.) and freshmen Michael Guglielmo(West Nyack, N.Y.) and Michael John (Nottingham, N.J.) rounded out the team.

Halloran competed individually in the 400-meter dash and took sixth in a time of 52.85 seconds. He also raced on the 4x100-meter relay team that finished fifth in 46.97 seconds, which consisted on senior Walter Goodwin (Floral Park, N.Y.) and freshman Brian Fratto (Winchester, Mass.) and Chris Volz (Caldwell, N.J.).

Seniors Louis Stengel (Vernon, N.J.) and Michael Cahill (Clark, N.J.) both took fourth in the 1,500-meter race and 5,000-meter run, respectively. Stengel clocked a time of 4:07.48, while Cahill completed the event in 15:49.98.

Fellow senior Joel Oquendo (North Bergen, N.J.) also finished fourth in the discus with a mark of 39.29 meters (128' 11").

Freshman Tom Flannery (Manasquan, N.J.) ran a time of 15:50.17 in the 5K to place fifth, while classmate Drew Knipfer (St. Joseph, Ill.) finished sixth in the 1,500 with a time of 4:11.14.


ALFRED
The team of sophomore Dave Bennett (Medford, NY/Longwood), sophomore Ethan Foster (Bolivar, NY/Bolivar-Richburg), sophomore Gregory Matos (Bronx, NY/ELLIS Prep), and senior Eddie Potter (Lansing, NY/Lansing) won a conference championship in the 4X400-meter relay, taking first in 3:25.03. The time set a new St. John Fisher facility record.
 
Matos was second in the 400-meter dash (50.37) and seventh in the 200-meter run (22.95), while Bennett took fourth in the 400 meters (51.51).
 
Other top performers for the AU men were: Potter, fourth in the 800-meter run (1:59.57); Foster, sixth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.28); and freshman Kevin Dixon(Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen), fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:19.25).
 
The team of freshman Alex Wheaton (Livonia, NY/Livonia), Bennett, junior Terrell Marshburn (Elmira, NY/Elmira Free Academy) and Matos was second in the 4X100-meter relay (44.38 seconds).


NAZARETH
sophomore Luis Rivera was the Golden Flyers' lone champion as he won the hammer throw with a distance of 44.42 meters (145 feet, 8 3/4 inches). Sophomore Brandon Vuolo was sixth in the same event (39.87 meters = 130 feete, 9 1/2 inches). He also finished third in the shot put (13.21 meters = 43 feet, 4 inches).

Sophomore Khiary Gayle finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 13.15 meters (43 feet, 1 1/4 inches) and senior Jake Lafaver was third in the 1,500-meter run (4:05.33) and was followed by senior Matt Fedrizzi in seventh place (4:12.27). Senior Zack Lafaver was fifth in the 800-meter run (2:00.68) and was followed by freshman Jacob Murrayin sixth place (2:00.92).