FINAL RESULTS
COMPLETE LIST OF ALL-AMERICANS
Five E8 Student-Athletes Earn All-American Status
Five student-athletes representing the Empire 8 Conference earned All-America status as the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships wrapped up Saturday in Boston. Included was a pair of runner-up finishes, one by St. Joh Fisher's Kyle Rollins in the High Jump and another by Steven's Gina Dello Russo in the 400-meter dash. Dello Russo earned All-American honors in two events over the course of the two-day event.
CLOSER LOOK
Dello Russo finished second in the 400-meter dash and seventh in the 200-meter to secure multiple All-America honors for the second straight season Saturday at the Indoor Track and Field Championships.
She posted the top preliminary time of 56.29 seconds and was placed in the second heat. Dello Russo began her two-lap trip around the track quickly taking the lead on the first turn. She remained in first place as the runners merged on to the straightaway and held off the field down the stretch to win her heat with a time of 55.84 seconds. She trimmed forty-five-hundredths-of-a-second off her preliminary time. George Fox's Sarah King won the event with a time of 54.66 seconds.
In the 200, Dello Russo entered the finals in the second heat for the second time after posting a time of 25.10 in Friday's preliminary heat. Running from the inside, Dello Russo completed her lap around the track in 25.32 seconds to place seventh.
Stevens' Katie Weeks concluded her indoor season by placing 11th in the shot put. The Toms River, New Jersey native hit 13.27 meters in her final throw. Weeks' classmate, Alex Kainer turned in one of the best performances in school history in the 200-meter dash, but did not advance to Saturday's finals. The South Brunswick, New Jersey native finished ninth with a time of 21.95 seconds, which was two-hundredths-of-a-second behind Rutgers-Camden's Cameron Dobbins for the last spot in the finals.
Fisher's Kyle Rollins earned the runner-up finish in the high jump competition. With the performance, he was named an All-American for the third time in his brief career. Rollins cleared the 2.15 meter mark on his very first attempt at the jump. The leap would earn him second overall in the national final and also shattered his own personal record as well as the standing school record in the respective event.
He also competed in the triple jump, but just missed the mark to get into the final round. The sophomore would finish out the championship tenth overall in the country with a 14.39 meter leap.
Fisher's Eddie Mahana earned his first All-American nod after a hard fought battle in the 60-meter hurdles event. The junior came into the race ranked seventh overall in the nation. Mahana took a hard fall after being impeded by the runner in the lane next to him. Despite the fall he got up, finished the race and crossed the finish line in All-American fashion.
The Cardinals finished 26th overall of 114 competing teams at the highest level of competition.
Utica crowned its two latest All-American's on Saturday as junior Ka'Sean Watlington earned his first career All-American honor as he placed third in the triple jump, while Keanu Heedram also earned All-American status after a third-place finish in the shot put. Kyle Swiecki totaled 4,712 points to finish 14th out of 20 competitors in the men's heptathlon.
The Pioneers posted 12 team points and placed 15th overall in the team competition, marking the best finish among all Empire 8 Conference and Atlantic Region teams.
Heedram's first throw of the day proved to be his best as he won the first flight with a toss of 17.50 meters. His school-record throw had him in first place for a period of time and helped him advance into the finals to secure his first career All-American honor. Heedram's second throw was 17.13 meters and he fouled in his final four attempts trying to catch up to Wisconsin-Eau Claire's David Kornack, who set a new championship record with a throw of 19.83 meters. Heedram's opening toss of 17.50 meters stood strong through the finals and earned him a third place finish overall.
Watlington was making his second career appearance at NCAA's after placing 11th in the triple jump at last Spring's outdoor nationals. Watlington kicked the triple jump off with a respectable distance of 14.36 meters before posting his school-record jump of 14.83 meters to help him advance to the finals. His jump of 14.83 meters held through the finals and earned him a third place finish and his first career All-American honor.
Swiecki posted a 14th-place finish in the heptathlon in his first career NCAA appearance. The first Pioneer in program-history to qualify for nationals in the event, he began the day with an impressive time of 8.69 in the 60-meter hurdles. He then cleared 3.85 meters in the pole vaul, and finished with a time of 2:57.27 in the 1000 meter race. On day one, he opened the competition by tying a personal best with a time of 7.38 in the 60-meter dash. He followed with a long jump of 6.35 meters and added a throw of 10.80 meters in the shot put. He also cleared 1.86 meters in the high jump to finish day one.
Marquis Simpson, who qualified for NCAA's in the long jump with a school-record distance of 7.18 meters, earned the 10th slot in flight two on Friday afternoon. The freshman posted a truly consistent effort in his NCAA debut as he registered a distance of 6.69 meters in each of his first two jumps and finished with a distance of 6.48 meters in his third attempt. His top distance of 6.69 meters was good for 15th-place out of 20 competitors in his first-ever NCAA meet.
- Information for this release provided by the athletic communication staffs at St. John Fisher, Stevens, and Utica -
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com and https://youtu.be/wzL4HcDoUUQ