Ithaca Women's Track & Field Team Wins 10th Empire 8 Outdoor Title

Ithaca Women's Track & Field Team Wins 10th Empire 8 Outdoor Title

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Results

The Ithaca College women'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 have won seven straight and 10 of the 11 titles contested. 

Ithaca totaled 213.50 points to outscore second-place Stevens (95). Nazareth totaled 82.25 points to finish in third. Utica (69), St. John Fisher (58.25), Alfred (38) and Houghton (32) also competed. 
 
ITHACA
The Bombers hit 17 ECAC qualifiers during the meet and earned 16 all-conference honors highlighted by five first-place finishes. Ithaca student-athletes set two meet records and broke one school record during the meet.
 
Freshman Brandy Smith snapped a 13-year old school record in the discus throw to win the event and set a new meet record. Smith's heave of 43.23 meters rewrote Shari Wilkins' former school record of 42.29 meters set on April 7, 2001. Senior Elaine Abdulky added a toss of 36.95 meters to place third and earn all-conference honors as a Houghton student-athletes placed second. Both Smith and Abdulky's throws met the ECAC qualifier.
 
Abdulky also placed second in the hammer with a toss of 45.26 meters. Junior Kristina Stockburger had a throw of 43.50 meters to finish third. Both were ECAC-good marks.
 
Junior Emilia Scheemaker, who hit a pair of ECAC qualifiers, won the triple jump to set a new meet record with a mark of 11.72 meters. She also placed second in the long jump with a leap of 5.44 meters.
 
Junior Harmony Graves met a pair of ECAC qualifiers. She won the 200-meter dash in 25.08 and placed second in the 100 clocking a time of 12.31.
 
Ithaca took the top two places in the pole vault with sophomore Alex Rechen winning the event with a 3.42-meter clear. Senior Shannon Meehan finished second clearing 3.27 meters. Both clears were ECAC qualifiers.
 
Three additional Bombers earned all-conference recognition and hit ECAC marks. Hannah Wright finished third behind a Houghton student-athlete in the 1,500 with a time of 4:46.79. Junior Christine Benway raced to a second-place finish in the 100 hurdles in 15.57 and freshman Natalie Meyer cleared 1.63 meters in the high jump to earn silver.
 
Junior Hannah Wright placed second in the 800 in 2:24.03 and sophomore Kristen Pompey finished as the runner-up in the javelin with a toss of 30.62 meters.
 
The Bombers claimed the top four finishes in the 400 hurdles. Juniors Leigh Martino and Kassie Moore placed first and second, respectively, with times of 1:06.99 and 1:07.56.


STEVENS
Sophomores Gladys Njoku (Cedar Grove, N.J.) and Amy Regan (Green Brook, N.J.) were named top athletes of the meet for Stevens. Ithaca College won the team title with 213.5 points.

Njoku won the high jump and long jump events on Saturday. She posted a mark of 1.63 meters (5 feet, 4.25 inches) in the high jump and 5.51 meters (18' 1") in the long jump, which is good for school record and 26th overall in Division III.

Regan qualified for ECAC's in the 1,500-meter race and 5,000-meter run with a pair of first place showings. She set a conference and school record in the 1,500 with a time of 4:41.46 and sits 33rd nationally. Regan then ran a time of 17:52.89 in the 5K to set a facility record at Fisher.

Senior Tiffany Evangelou (Fair Lawn, N.J.) took home an Empire 8 title in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.52 seconds. Evangelou also placed fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 10.53 meters (34' 6.75").

The 4x100-meter relay team of Evangelou, Njoku and freshmen Melissa Gibbons (Oradell, N.J.) and Michelle Moreira (Coopersburg, Pa.) set a school record with a time of 51.28 seconds to finish sixth.

Junior Amira Dardir (Jersey City, N.J.) posted four top-six finishes on the day. Dardir took third in the high jump (1.58 meters – 5' 2.25") and 100 hurdles (16.15 seconds). She also came in fifth in the long jump with a leap of 5.25 meters (17' 2.75") and sixth in the javelin with a throw of 26.78 meters (87' 10").

Senior Kelly Freed (Rutherford, N.J.) ran a time of 2:27.29 in the 800-meter race to place fourth. Freed then teamed with Gibbons, Moreira and sophomore Sarah Zahran(Southbury, Conn.) in the 4x400-meter relay and posted a time of 4:17.78 to finish fifth.

Sophomore Kate Moyer (Long Valley, N.J.) crossed the line in fourth in the 5K with a time of 18:27.41, while freshman Victoria Taibe (Middle Village, N.Y.) placed third in the javelin with a throw of 29.70 meters (97' 5").

Taibe also measured out 10.87 meters (35' 8) in the shot put to take fourth. Freshman Yanique Spigner (Paramus, N.J.) came in fifth and sixth, respectively, in the discus and shot put. Spigner's throw of 34.58 meters in the discus was good for fifth, while her mark of 10.31 meters (33' 10) in the shot put took sixth.


NAZARETH
Nazareth's women's track and field team broke three school records and tied a fourth Saturday as the Golden Flyers finished a solid third at the Empire 8 Conference Track and Field Championships at St. John Fisher's Polisseni Complex.

In the women's meet, sophomore Gabrielle LeBihan broke her week-old school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase  and also broke the meet record with a first-place time of 11:02.76. She ran 11:20.05 at last week's ROC City Classic at Nazareth. Lebihan also finished second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:14.04. Freshman Emily Thompson was sixth in the same race (18:45.59).

Junior Sibongile Chisi broke her own record in the pole vault as she cleared 10 feet for the first time with an official height of 3.12 meters (10 feet, 2 3/4 inches). JuniorMichaela Gildemeyer broke a seven-year-old record by placing fourth in the 1,500-merer run with a time of 4:47.40, more than three seconds faster than Jessica Brown's mark that stood since 2007. Sophomore Taylor Pierson tied the school record in the 100-meter dash as she finished third in 12.67 seconds, the same time that Melissa Cutcliffe recorded in 2009.

Chisi also helped Nazareth score points in a pair of relays. The 1600-meter relay team of Hannah Brackley, Gildemeyer, Chisi and Allison Wean finished first in 4:07.01, while Brackley, Amanda Entress, Pierson and Chisi combined for second place (:50.09) in the 400-meter relay.

Other top performances included a first-place from Gildemeyer in the 800-meter run (2:21.48); a second- and a third-place finish from Brackley in the 400- and 200-meter dashes with times of :57.92 and :25.87; a third-place finish for Pierson in the long jump (5.44 meters = 17 feet, 10 inches); and a sixth-place finish for freshman Kelsey Hill in the triple jump (10.31 meters = 33 feet, 10 inches).


UTICA
Senior Anastasia Bowden (Monticello, NY/Monticello) won the 400 meter dash, while breaking the school-record and the facility record, with a career-best time of 57.78.  She also took home fourth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.02. 

The 4x100 meter relay team of Nikiya Harris (New York, NY/Cardinal Spellman), Brenna Stewart (Southborough, MA/Algonquin), Bowden and Sarah Wiatr (Poland, NY/West Canada Valley) took home first place with a season-best, facility record and ECAC qualifying time of 49.34. Bowden, Samantha Prendergast (Utica, NY/T.R. Proctor), Sheila Ramos (Haverstaw, NY/North Rockland) and Abby Schaible (Duanseburg, NY/Duanseburg) teamed up in the 4x400 meter relay to place fourth overall with a time of 4:17.26.

Senior Katie Day (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) placed second, breaking her own school-record in the 3000 meter steeplechase, with a time of 11:18.26. Day added a fifth place finish in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:37.46.

Freshman Bria Hilliard (Bronx, NY/Mother Cabrini) broke her own school-record in the hammer throw with a toss of 40.31 meters, good enough for a fifth place finish.  Classmate Alexis Edwards (Ilion, NY/Ilion) hurled the shot put 11.38 meters for eight points and a second place finish.

Freshman Nikiya Harris (New York, NY/Cardinal Spellman) placed fourth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.77, good enough for four team points for Utica. FreshmanAbby Schaible (Duanseburg, NY/Duanseburg) placed fifth in the 400 meter hurdles with a personal collegiate best time of 1:09.53.

Katherine Pearce (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) placed fifth in the women's high jump with a leap of 1.48 meters, while Sarah Wiatr (Poland, NY/West Canada Valley) placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 11.24 meters.

Sierra LaVeck (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) added a season-best throw of 34.79 meters for a fourth place finish in the women's discuss.


ST. JOHN FISHER
Paige Willson won the shot put for the second straight year with a throw of 12.55 meters.  She also finished first in the javelin at 30.78 meters, meeting NYSCTC A standards.

Taylor Youngkrans won the hammer throw for the second straight week with a distance of 46.32 meters, tying the Fisher record.

Fisher's 4X400 relay team (Kaitlin Rizzo, Sydney Saccone, Chelsea Cleveland, Morgan Mastin) took second overall, while Fisher's 4X100 squad (Ronni Ehlers, Mastin, Cleveland, Lattuca) was fourth with a time of 50.54 seconds.


ALFRED
Alfred University junior Miasia Hillman won a title in the 100-meter dash and was runner-up in the 200-meter dash at Saturday's Empire 8 outdoor track and field championships, hosted by St. John Fisher College.
 
Hillman won the 100-meter race in 12.29 seconds and was second in the 200-meter dash in 25.86 seconds to help lead the Saxons to a seventh-place finish. Both Hillman's times met ECSC qualifying standards).
 
Four other Saxons posted top-five finishes. Senior Rebecca Graudons was third in the pole vault (3.27 meters); junior Elizabeth DeMonte was fourth in the high jump (1.53 meters); senior Chelsea Hall was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles (16.27 seconds); and freshman Mary Baughman was fifth in the 5,000-meter run (18.28.01).
 
Other top performers for the AU women were: senior Jennifer Kirsch, ninth in the shot put (10.18 meters); and junior Tracie Forrester, ninth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:13.70).