Utica Men Earn Program-Best Fifth Place Finish at ECAC's
RESULTS | TEAM SCORES
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Empire 8 track and field teams completed competition at the 2016 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Outdoor Track & Field Champions on Thursday, hosted at Westfield State University.
The Utica College men's track & field team earned a program-best fifth place finish with 38 team points to lead all Empire 8 teams.
Utica junior
Nicodemus Gambill won the men's 100 meter dash as he matched his preliminary time with a 10.55. Gambill headed into the day tied for sixth on the NCAA Division III qualifying list and is expected to make his second consecutive outdoor nationals appearance in the 100 next week. Gambill also broke his own school-record in the men's 200 meter dash with a time of 21.58, good for third place overall.
Utica's
Rob Tutein finished third in the men's high jump with a clearance of 2.06 meters. Tutein is currently tied for seventh nationally on the NCAA outdoor qualifying list (2.08 meters) and anticipates his second consecutive NCAA outdoor high jump appearance. Last season Tutein earned All-American honors after placing fourth at the outdoor nationals.
Utica's 4x800 meter relay team of
Patrick Claffey, Nicholas Ashton,
Erik Winberg and
Tyler Sutton broke their own school-record as they placed third overall with a time of 7:45.30.
Nazareth senior Tom Sippie won the 400 meter dash with a school record time of 47.78 and sophomore Nick LaBarbera placed seventh in 48.85. Utica freshman
Kevin Gangemi added an eighth place finish and broke his own school record with a time of 49.04.
Utica junior
Andrew Russell placed seventh overall in the men's discus with a toss of 44.40 meters. Heedram was not far behind as he placed eighth in the discuss with a distance of 43.93 meters.
Utica's 4x100 meter relay team of
Christian St. Amour,
Nicodemus Gambill,
Kevin Gangemi and
Carlton Woodie placed seventh with a season-best time of 42.27.
Alfred sophomore
Seth Spicer won the decathlon title with 6,222 points, 95 points clear of runner-up Andrew Herwig of Colby College. The 6,222 total points were 343 points better than Spicer's previous personal best in the decathlon (5,879).
On Thursday, Spicer set new personal bests in the 110-meter hurdles (15.84 seconds, second in the field); the pole vault (3.45 meters, seventh); the javelin throw (40.50 meters, eighth); and the 1,500-meter run (4:37.47, second). His 32.66-meter discus throw was tops in the field.
Ithaca sophomore
Seth Abbott finished fifth in the decathlon with 5757 points after a solid second day of competition. Abbott won the pole vault with a mark of 4.20 meters (13 feet, 9.25 inches) and fourth in the 1,500-meet run in a time of 4:36.60.
St. John Fisher sophomores
Mark VanMarter and
Peter Girardi each won individual events with school record performances. VanMarter took first in the long jump, leaping 7.17 meters, good for the 12
th-best mark in NCAA Division III.
Girardi won the 400 hurdles with a time of 51.79 seconds, the second-best time in Division III this year and will certainly be headed to NCAAs. Stevens senior
Shane Chiaravalle finished third in the 400 hurdles, recording a time of 53.53.
Fisher senior
Kyle Koehler placed second overall in the shot put at 16.86 meters and will also await an invitation to NCAAs. Utica freshman
Keanu Heedram set a new school-record in the shot put with a distance of 15.88 meters, good enough for a seventh place finish. Stevens junior Neil Forrester re-broke his own school record in the shot put, recording a 10th place toss of 15.27 meters.
Ithaca junior Sean Phillips took seventh in the 1500 meter run (3:55.93) and Fisher freshman
James Felice set a school record in the event with a time of 3:56.34, good enough for eighth place.