By: Utica College Pioneers Release
In the first dual meet the program has ever hosted, the Utica College men's and women's track and field teams certainly made the opportunity count. The program swept both the men's and women's competitions against the Sage Colleges. The men topped the Gators by a score of 81-30, while the women prevailed by a score of 67-64.
The meet was scored on a 5-3-2-1 basis, with five points scored for an event win. The Pioneers won a total of sixteen events between the two competitions.
Stealing the show for the Pioneers in the meet was the performance of thrower Jane Fahy. The transfer student put on a stunning display in her first meet as a Pioneer, winning the shot put with a new indoor school record toss of 12.15 meters. That eclipses the previous mark of 12.14 meters set by Jen Stimpson in 2017.
The record throw was part of a sweep of all four throwing events for UC. Arthur Bittel won the men's shot put with a team-leading mark of 12.98 meters, Antwan Kelly had a season best of 15.59 meters in the men's weight throw, and Gabrielle DeSanctis won an event for the first time in her college career as she prevailed in the women's weight throw with a mark of 11.82 meters.
All six jumping events also went the way of the Pioneers. Kelsey Wands and Gianna Cognetti went 1-2 in the women's long jump, with Wands posting a winning performance of 5.01 meters in her first competition of the season. The UC men went 1-2-3 in the long jump, with sophomore Matthew Breault edging out Sei Sei for the win with a final mark of 6.11 meters. Sei was second at 6.10, and Josh Washington was third.
In the triple jump, Breault completed the sweep of the men's horizontal jumps with a mark of 11.94 meters. Laura Meade outpaced three Sage competitors in the triple jump with a 10.38 meter mark to win the event.
In the high jump, Zuriel Wright was the men's winner with a 1.85 meter clearance. Top honors in the women's high jump went to Amina Sinclair, who stayed undefeated in her young college high jumping career with a 1.50 meter performance.
In the women's pole vault, Caroline Castriotta was second with a new personal best of 3.05 meters, and DeSanctis was third. Castriotta collected the winner's share of the team points for the event. The event was won by unattached athlete Kat Pitman, who is the Division III national record holder. Pitman, formerly of Ithaca College, put up a mark of 4.35 meters for the 50th best mark in the world this indoor season as she prepares for the Olympic Trials.
On the track, Utica enjoyed much success in the sprints and hurdles on Friday. The Pioneers won the men's and women's 60 meter dashes, with Laura Meade topping the women's table in 8.42 seconds. Daijon Richards continued to impress after his remarkable debut performance at Colgate, as he won the men's 60 final at 7.26 seconds. Zuriel Wright and Justin Garrett completed a 1-2-3 finish for the Pioneers.
Josh Washington won the men's 200 meters with a clocking of 24.87. The 400 meters also belonged to a pair of Utica athletes. Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez was the top competitor in the women's event with a time of 65.66 seconds, while Garrett was the top male competitor with a 53.54 second run. Sei Sei was second in the men's competition at 54.16 seconds.
Justin Valentin and Kyler Ford went 1-2 in the men's 60 hurdles, with Valentin winning in 9.52.
The Pioneers saw many season debut performances in the longer distances ahead of next week's E8 Championships. In the women's mile, Kristin Daino and Brooke Wilson were 3rd and 4th with times of 6:18 and 6:31 respectively. Hayden Lohmann was the runner-up in the men's mile. Elizabeth Darling was second in the women's 3,000 meters with a time of 12:43. A pair of second place finishes led the way for UC in the 800 meters with Darling running a 2:48, and Hunter Reed putting up a 2:11.88.
The meet also featured a pentathlon for men and women. Andrew Weider was third as the lone active Pioneer in the men's competition. He scored 2,424 points. Cora Maxwell was also third in the women's event at 2,507 points. The winners were also notable. Kyle Swiecki had 3,131 points to win the men's competition as an unattached competitor as he prepares to compete for UC during the outdoor season. Geneseo State's Emily Lavarnway scored 3,904 points to win the women's competition, a mark that stands as the second best pentathlon score in Division III history. She was ten points away from a national record. Her long jump leg of 5.92 meters was just outside the top ten long jump marks in Division III history.
The Pioneers will compete in the Empire 8 Championships at Nazareth next weekend.