2022-23 Empire 8 Men’s Indoor Track & Field Award Winners and All-Conference Selections Announced

Men's Indoor Track and Field | 3/20/2023 2:36:37 PM

League Champion Nazareth College was well represented with three individual honors, as the Empire 8 Conference announced its 2022-23 Men’s Indoor Track & Field All-Conference awards on Monday, March 20. The awards are voted on by the league's head coaches.
 
Sophomore Cade Eells of Nazareth College garnered his first Empire 8 Indoor Track Athlete of the Year honor. Eells, who was named the 2023 Empire 8 Indoor Track Championship Field Athlete of the Meet, tallied 26 points for the Golden Flyers at the meet. He won the mile in a time of 4:26.62, placed second in the 800-meters in a personal best time of 1:58.95 and was runner-up in the 3,000-meters. He had a personal-best time of 4:21.07 in the mile earlier in the season. He is Nazareth’s second straight Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and fourth in program history.
 
Senior Zuriel Wright of Utica University was named the 2022-23 Empire 8 Indoor Field Athlete of the Year. Wright, who represented Utica in the 2023 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the high jump, was also the Empire 8 Field Athlete of the Championship meet. He won the 2023 E8 Championship in the high jump, was second in the long jump and third in the triple jump. Wright qualified for nationals in the high jump after clearing 2.05 meters at the Utica Holiday Classic. Wright, who also earned 2019-20 E8 Indoor Rookie of the Year honors. is the first Utica student-athlete to earn E8 Indoor Field Athlete of the Year accolades.
 
Nazareth’s Michael Puglisi was named the 2022-22 Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Rookie of the Year. Puglisi enjoyed a tremendous debut for Nazareth, helping the Golden Flyers win their first E8 title in program history. He was second in the 200-meters at the E8 Championship in a time of 22.84 seconds, third in the 400-meters and helped lead Nazareth’s 4 x 400-meter relay team to victory. He also recorded a top time of 50.41 seconds in the 400-meters earlier in the season. Puglisi is the second Nazareth student-athlete to earn E8 Indoor Track and Field Rookie of the Year accolades.
 
Nazareth head coach James Goss and his staff was named the 2022-23 Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year. The Golden Flyers won their first Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championship. Overall, Nazareth had 15 different student-athletes earn All-Conference honors.
 
The Empire 8 first, second and third team all-conference selections were determined at the championship meet on Feb. 24-25 from the Golisano Training Center, hosted by Nazareth.
 
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2022-23 Men's Indoor Track & Field Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference 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 sportsmen.  
Track Athlete of the Year: Cade Eells, So., Nazareth
Field Athlete of the Year: Zuriel Wright, Sr., Utica
Rookie of the Year: Michael Puglisi, Fr., Nazareth
Coaching Staff of the Year: Nazareth, led by head coach James Goss
 
Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year
Neil Peters, Sr., Alfred
Patrick Conteh, Fr., Hartwick
Brennan Lewandowski, Sr., Houghton
Patrick Healy, Gr., Nazareth
Kaiden Simpson, So., Russell Sage
Cole Ferris, Fr., St. John Fisher
Shane Tinney, Jr., Utica
   
60-Meter Dash
First Team: Curtis Cuvilly, Sr., St. John Fisher – :7.16
Second Team: Nolan Flynn, Fr., Utica – :7.21
Third Team: Andrew Hadasz, Jr., Utica – :7.23
 
60-Meter Hurdles
First Team: Kaleb Luton, Sr., Nazareth – :8.17
Second Team: Trenton Wynn, Sr., St. John Fisher – :8.60
Third Team: Aaron Lund, Fr., Nazareth – :8.72
 
200-Meter Dash
First Team: Andrew Hadasz, Jr., Utica - :22.60
Second Team: Michael Puglisi, Fr., Nazareth – :22.84
Third Team: Brady Bishop, So., St. John Fisher – :23.04
 
400-Meter Dash
First Team: Ben Lewis, So., Nazareth – :51.10
Second Team: Mike Welch, Sr., Nazareth – :51.14
Third Team: Michael Puglisi, Fr., Nazareth – :51.16
 
800-Meter Run
First Team: George Mecca, Sr., Alfred – 1:58.00
Second Team: Cade Eells, So., Nazareth – 1:58.95
Third Team: Gavin McAllister, Fr., Nazareth – 1:59.07
 
Mile
First Team: Cade Eells, So., St. Nazareth – 4:26.62
Second Team: Nathan Bowers, Sr., Nazareth – 4:27.89
Third Team: Anthony Leotta, Fr., Utica – 4:29.23
 
3,000-Meters
First Team: Nathan Bowers, Sr., Nazareth – 8:52.80
Second Team: Cade Eells, So., Nazareth – 8:55.95
Third Team: Caleb Kasper, So., Houghton – 8:57.75
 
5,000-Meters
First Team: Caleb Kasper, So., Houghton – 16:08.83
Second Team: Zach Tucker, So., Houghton – 16:09.73
Third Team: Nathan Bowers, Sr., Nazareth – 16:10.15
 
4 x 400-Meter Relay
First Team: Mike Welch, Sr., Michael Puglisi, Fr., Gavin McCallister, Fr., Ben Lewis, So., Nazareth – 3:25.18
Second Team: Nolan Flynn, Fr., Dion Putaski, So., Ethan Kain., Sr., Andrew Hadasz, Jr., Utica – 3:27.17
Third Team: Brady Bishop, So., Robert Hartigan, Jr., Myles Andersen., Sr., Cole Ferris, Fr., St. John Fisher – 3:29.63
 
Distance Medley Relay
First Team: Kenny Williams, Jr., Joey Nettles., So., Lucas Sharron, Jr., Ethan Glashauser, Jr., Nazareth – 10:49.64
Second Team: Hayden Lohmann, So., Ethan Kain, Sr., Tobias Jeralds, Fr., Anthony Leotta, Fr., Utica –10:51.43
Third Team: Jason Kincaid, Jr., Luke Defio, So., Peter Briggs, So., Riley Nash, So., St. John Fisher – 11:04.95
 
Pole Vault
First Team: Jason Bletsko, Fr., Nazareth – 4.00 meters
Second Team: Jack Pomykaj, Fr., Nazareth – 3.85 meters
Third Team: Jack Rathburn, Fr., Utica – 3.70 meters
 
High Jump
First Team: Zuriel Wright, Sr., Utica – 2.00 meters
Second Team: Bryant DePaull, Fr., St. John Fisher – 1.97 meters (tie)
Second Team: Sean Cochrane, Jr., St. John Fisher – 1.97 meters (tie)
 
Long Jump
First Team: Matthew Stasiw, Jr., St. John Fisher – 7.09 meters
Second Team: Zuriel Wright, Sr., Utica – 6.86 meters
Third Team: Dion Putaski, So., Utica – 6.74 meters
 
Triple Jump
First Team: Ivan Lopez-Testillano, Sr., St. John Fisher – 14.09 meters
Second Team: Kaleb Luton, Sr., Nazareth – 13.73 meters
Third Team: Zuriel Wright, Jr., Utica – 13.09 meters
 
Shot Put
First Team: Hunter Logan, Jr., Utica – 15.82 meters
Second Team: Billie Mays III, So., Utica – 14.56 meters
Third Team: John Coddington, Sr., Russell Sage – 14.40 meters
 
Weight Throw
First Team: Antwan Kelly, Jr., Utica – 16.98 meters
Second Team: John Coddington, Sr., Russell Sage – 16.70 meters
Third Team: Justin Swavely, So., Utica – 14.81 meters
 
Heptathlon
First Team: Malachi Yeager, Sr., Houghton – 4,464 points
Second Team: Andrew Wieder, Jr., Utica – 4,268 points
Third Team: Aaron Lund, Fr., Nazareth – 4,261 points
 
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.
 
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