Gambill, Cornelius, VanMarter and Fisher Staff Claim Top Honors
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Track Athlete, Field Athlete, Rookie and Coach of the Year awards for the 2015 men’s outdoor track and field season. The conference coaches vote on the awards.
Utica College sophomore
Nicodemus Gabmill has been voted the Track Athlete of the Year. He qualified for NCAA’s in the 100-meter dash with the third fastest time in the country of 10.51, which he clocked on May 9 at the Oneonta Meet. He missed the qualifying cut in the 200-meter dash. Earlier this season, Gambill was named Empire 8 Track Athlete of the Meet at the conference championships after breaking the championship records in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. He registered a time of 10.68 in the 100-meter dash and a time of 21.72 in the 200-meter dash. At the New York State Collegiate Track Championship (NYSCTC) Championships he finished second in the 100m (10.76) and third in the 200m (22.38). At ECAC’s He placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.84 and finished third in the 200 meters with a clock of 21.82. Gambill’s honor is the second straight by a Utica athlete and third overall as he joins previous winners Joe Pruckno (2012) and Shane Ruffing (2014).
St. John Fisher junior
Devin Cornelius has been tabbed the Field Athlete of the Year. Cornelius wins the honor for the second straight year after an eighth place finish in the decathlon with a school record 6,626 points at the 2015 NCAA Championship. With the eighth place finish he became Fisher’s first two-time All-American in track and field. Earlier in the seaon he successfully defended his decathlon title at the NYSCTC Championship as he tallied 6,053 points. He set a new facility record at the UAlbany Purple and Gold Meet with 6437 points. At the Empire 8 Championships he placed second in the pole vault (3.95 meters), eighth in the long jump, fifth in the 100-meter dash and was part of two relays.
Fisher’s
Mark VanMarter has been granted the award for Rookie of the Year. He concluded his storied freshman season with a sixth-place finish in the long jump at 7.21 meters at the NCAA Championships. With that jump, VanMarter became the second All-American for the Fisher track and field program. He finished in fourth place at the ECAC Championship in the long jump. At the NYSCTC Meet he took first in the long jump and third in the high jump. He set the school record in the long jump with a leap of 7.30 meters at the UAlbany Meet on May 8. At the Empire 8 Championship he earned wins in the long jump (7.05m) and triple jump (13.60m), while finishing second in the high jump (2.00m) en route to being named the meet's Most Outstanding Field Athlete.
The
Fisher staff, led by Head Coach Mike Henchen, earned the Men’s Indoor Track and Field Coaching Staff of the Year. Competing in just their fourth season as an NCAA Division III program, the Cardinal’s won the programs first E8 Outdoor Championship. Fisher also enjoyed its best finish the NYSCTC, as the Cardinals placed fifth overall and they completed their best finish at ECAC’s. The Cardinal’s had three NCAA qualifiers in Cornelius and VanMarter and Peter Girardi and two All-American performances.
In addition the yearly honors, one member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2015 Outdoor Track and Field Sportsmen of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
Sportsmen of the Year Team
Alfred: Seth Spicer
Houghton: Marshall Brady
Ithaca: Kyle MacKinnon
Nazareth: Pat Neureuter
SJFC: James Koch
Stevens: Cory Zegel
Utica: Sam Bonk