Fisher Wins Empire 8 Men's Championship
Results
St. John Fisher College captured its first Empire 8 Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Sunday, April 19.
Fisher scored 151 points to outpace second place Ithaca College (126) and third place Stevens Institute of Technology (124). The win by the Cardinals snapped the Bombers eight-time win streak.
Mark VanMarter earned wins in the long jump and triple jump, while finishing second in the high jump to pick up 27 points, en route to being named the meet's Most Outstanding Field Athlete.
Utica's Nicodemus Gambill won the 100 and 200 meter dashes to earn the meet's Most Outstanding Track Athlete.
The Fisher trio of VanMarter,
Brandon Fuentes, and
Bryan Rollins combined to score 35 points in the triple jump and long jump. VanMarter set the college record and qualified for ECACs with a jump of 13.60 meters in the triple jump to take first place. Fuentes was a close second at 13.59 meters (NYSCTC A Standard) and Rollins jumped 12.76 meters for a sixth-place finish.
In the long jump, VanMarter once again took the top spot at 7.05 meters, while Fuentes hit the NYSCTC A Standard with a mark of 6.53 meters to take fourth. Rollins finished in fifth at 6.48 meters.
VanMarter finished in second place in the high jump at 2.00 meters and Rollins notched a fourth-place finish at 1.95 meters, both ECAC qualifying marks.
Kyle Koehler had a huge performance in the shot put, setting the meet record with a throw of 15.17 meters, also sending him to ECACs.
On the track, Fisher's 110 and 400 hurdles participants came up big.
Peter Girardi set a new school record in the 110 hurdles (15.04) to qualify for ECACs, while
Chris Wehner finished in third (15.59), and William Sterriker (16.38) secured fifth place.
Girardi came back to win the 400 hurdles in a NYSCTC Standard A time of 56.76 ,with Sterriker a close second at 58.11.
Joe D'Agostino set the school record in both the 100 and 200 meter dash, finishing in third and second, respectively. He clocked a 10.80 in the 100 and his time of 22.02 in the 200 eclipsed the previous Empire 8 meet record. Cornelius finished fifth in the 100 (11.05) to qualify for ECACs.
Fisher's quartet Fisher's 4x100 of D'Agostino, Sterriker,
Trevor Wilkes and Devin Cornelius set a new school record, clocking an ECAC qualifying time of 43.08.
Stephen Gomez led Ithaca with a first place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase to earn Empire 8 Champion recognition. Gomez completed the steeplechase in 9:38.63, also surpassing ECAC qualifying requirements.
The Bombers also earned a first place finish in the 4x100-meter relay. The team of
Aaron Matthias,
Rashaad Barrett,
Tyler Curtis and
Jordan Smith ran a time of 42.28 to qualify for ECACs.
The Ducks finished 1-2 in the 1500m run, with sophomore
Nicholas Zickgraf finishing first with a time of 4:00.47 while teammate and senior
Louis Stengel was right behind him with a personal best 4:00.99s.
In the 5k, two Ducks scored points, including junior
Thomas Cunningham who took home his first career E8 title with a time of 15:22.17 while sophomore
Tom Flannery placed fourth.
Nazareth got first-place finishes from junior
Luis Rivera in the hammer throw, junior
Tom Sippie in the 400-meter dash and sophomore
Matt Battaglia in the 800-meter run. Rivera was a repeat winner in the hammer throw with a distance of 50.70 meters (166 feet, 4 inches). Sippie and freshman teammate
Nick LaBarbera finished 1-2 in the 400 with times of :50.06 and :50.11 respectively.
Battaglia had a personal-best time of 1:56.61 to win the 800 and to secure 10 additional team points for the Golden Flyers. Sippie, Battaglia, and LaBarbera teamed with
Jacob Murray for the Golden Flyers' first-place 4 x 400-meter relay. The relay finished with a time of 3:23.55.
Alfred University senior Sean Locker won the javelin throw with a ECAC-qualifying throw of 58.73 meters.
Gambill and jumper
Rob Tutein shattered three Empire 8 and Utica school-records. Gambill recorded victories in both the 100 and 200 meter dash events, grabbing 20 team points. He registered a time of 10.68 in the 100 and currently ranks sixth in the country on the NCAA Qualifying List. His time of 21.72 in the 200 is good enough for 13th in the nation.
Tutein leaped to his second victory in as many weeks with a clearance of 2.05 and moved up into 10
th place nationally on the NCAA's list.
Kyle Sikes added 10 points for the Pioneers with an impressive victory and school-record in the pole vault clearing 4.35 meters.
Houghton was led by Josiah Evans who finished eighth in the 110 meter hurdles (17.39), while Daniel Becker was eighth in the triple jump (1.75 meters).
Team Standings
St. John Fisher - 151
Ithaca - 126
Stevens - 124
Utica - 84
Nazareth - 61
Alfred - 42
Houghton - 0