Spicer Earns Second All-American Designation
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BIRMINGHAM, AL – Senior
Seth Spicer (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) stormed his way to his second All-American performance at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championships on Saturday.
Spicer finished eighth in the men's heptathlon with a score of 4,973 during the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships; marking the second time he has earned All-American designation in his career (place 4
th during 2017 National Championships). He is the first track & field All-American at Alfred University since
Glenn Clinton '97 finished third in the 55-meter hurdles in 1995.
Spicer mentioned about his finish, "Not quite as sweet as last time. Eighth certainly isn't as good as fourth, but I got to take something home, so I'm happy with it."
The multi student-athlete from Corning, NY opened the day in eighth place, but moved up to seventh following the first event of the second day. Spicer ran an 8.71 in the 60-meter hurdles to earn an edge on the competition. From there he moved on to the pole vault where he posted a score of 3.90. His opposition overstepped him in the event, dropping him to ninth overall in the heptathlon.
"Going into the last event, I was ranked ninth," Spicer added. "I was a good 100 points behind the top-eight heading into the race. I was hoping to gain a little more than I did, but those guys must have known that I was coming for them. The goal was to make it hurt as much as possible and walk away top eight; it did – a lot, and we did. Check," he said chuckling.
Spicer ran a personal best in the 1,000-meter run (2:37.29), more than four seconds faster than his previous PR. He earned 904 points in the race and jumped into eighth place to earn a spot on the podium.
When Head Coach
Angie Taylor was asked about the performance she said, "Wow, what can I say? I couldn't be any more proud of him. He is a great competitor and he was able to move from each event and refocus. Just to see him run the amazing 1,000 meters he did at the end, just shows you how great a competitor he is and how great of a student-athlete he is."
Assistant Coach
William Sortore spoke about what the All-American designation meant to him and the program. He said, "I have been with this kid for nearly four years. After the tough year we had last spring, I told [Seth], he is the type of kid that will bounce back. And he did. This is an All-American trophy sitting in front of me. And it happened because of the type of kid that he is."
Spicer finished, "There is room to grow. And that is exciting heading into the outdoor season. That is something I can take away from this weekend."
Spicer now turns his attention to the outdoor season where the Saxons hit the road on March 24
th to compete in the California University of Pennsylvania Invitational in California, PA.