Brackley, Smith, Cordani and Ithaca Staff Recognized
Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Track Athlete, Field Athlete, Rookie and Coach of the Year awards for the 2015 women’s outdoor track and field season. The conference coaches vote on the awards.
Nazareth College senior
Hannah Brackley has been named the Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, marking the first time the award has gone to a Golden Flyer since it began in 2005. Brackley reached the national meet for the first time after several near-misses in previous seasons. She broke through after breaking her own school record in winning the 400-meter dash on May 1 with a time of :56.09 at the NYSCTC meet. Brackley finished 16
th at the national meet with a time of 57.05.
Brackley was named the NYSCTC Track Athlete of the Meet. In addition to winning the 400-meter dash (56.09), she was second in the 200-meter dash in a school record :25.42. And she anchored both the 4 x 100 (49.33) and 4 x 400-meter relays. Nazareth won the 4 x 400 and shattered the school record with a time of 3:53.49. At the Empire 8 Championship she defended her title in the 400-meter dash with a time of :56.99 and finished second in the 200-meter dash as she crossed the finish line with her best time of the season in :25.54.
Ithaca College sophomore
Brandy Smith was selected the Indoor Field Athlete of the Year as she became the first-ever outdoor track & field national champion in Ithaca school history. Smith won the discus throw as she topped the field with a career-best and stadium record throw of 53.00 meters (173 feet, 11 inches). Her mark was just 2.02 meters shy of the Division III Championship record set back in 1992, and was nearly three meters farther than the runner-up.
Prior to Nationals, Smith earned ECAC and NYSCTC Champion recognition in the discus. And she was crowned the Empire 8 Field Athlete of the Meet as she set a new Championship Meet record of 46.97 meters in the discus. Smith also met a distance of 47.01 meters in the hammer throw to take second place and finished third in the shot put after reaching 11.26 meters.
Ithaca freshman
Taryn Cordani was voted the Rookie of the Year. She qualified for the National meet in the 1500 meter run and finished 13th with a time of 4:36.75. She set her season best time of 4:33.37 with a third place finish at ECACs. Cordani ran a time of 4:36.68 in the 1,500-meter to finish as a runner-up at the NYSCTC Championship and clocked a time 2:21.23 in the 800-meter run to come in eighth. At the Empire 8 Meet she topped with the field with a time of 4:40.44.
The
Ithaca College staff, led by Head Coach Jennifer Potter, earned the Women’s Indoor Track and Field Coaching Staff of the Year. Ithaca claimed its eighth consecutive Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championship. Over the course of the championships, Ithaca notched 63 top eight finishes, highlighted by seven champions and eight runners-up. Seven Bombers were named first-team all-conference, while seven athletes earned second-team all-conference honors. The Bomber’s claimed the NYSCTC crown on May 2 and the Ithaca staff was named the NYSCTC Coaching Staff of the Year. On May 15, Ithaca finished second at the ECAC Championship. Ithaca sent eighth qualifiers to NCAA’s and came away with two All-America performances and an individual national champion.
In addition the yearly honors, one member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2015 Outdoor Track and Field Sportswomen 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 sportswomen.
Sportswomen of the Year Team
Alfred: Brynn Hyde
Houghton: Andrea Melhorn
Ithaca: Chrstine Benway
Nazareth: Andrea Larnard
SJFC: Morgan Mastin
Stevens: Ashna Manhas
Utica: Samantha Bennett