SUNYAC Ready to Host Indoor Track and Field Championships
Results
With the regular season finished, SUNYAC teams travel to Hobart and William Smith in Geneva, NY, for the 2011 SUNYAC Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 26. The SUNYAC Championships consist of eight teams on both the men’s and women’s side. Last season, Buffalo State women won their second consecutive title, while Geneseo claimed its sixth title in program history on the men’s side.
Entering the championships, three men’s teams are nationally ranked in the USTFCCCA top 25, as Cortland comes in at No. 9 followed by Buffalo State (10th) and Geneseo (11th). Regionally, SUNYAC has five teams in the top ten for the men, led by the Knights at No. 1, Cortland (2), Buffalo State (3), Fredonia sits at No. 7 and Plattsburgh comes in at No. 9.
On the women’s side, the latest regional ranking as of Feb. 23 has Cortland at No. 5, Oneonta at #7 and Geneseo and Buffalo State complete the standings at No. 9 and 10, respectively.
SUNYAC is hoping to have live results available throughout the meet courtesy of Leone Timing.
Tickets will be sold at the Championships on Saturday. Cost is $5.00 for adults and $2 for students. The first event is schedule for 9:00 a.m.
Here is an event-by-event preview of the 2011 SUNYAC Championships.
Go to the women's event preview.
Men
55-meter dash: Entering the meet, three athletes have registered NCAA provisional times including defending champion Durell Cull of Oneonta, registering a 6.47 at the NYU Team Challenge last weekend. However Cull’s time ranks behind two runners from Buffalo State; senior Xavier Mateen (6.38) and sophomore Justin Allen (6.43). Mateen placed second in the event in 2010 and Allen finished fifth.
200-meter dash: Allen and Mateen sit atop the SUNYAC performance list in the 200-meter dash. Allen is the defending champion in the event and leads the conference qualifiers for the championship with a conference record time of 21.63. Allen beat Mateen by one-hundredth of a second in 2010.The Bengals also have the third and fourth ranks in the event by William Murray (22.26) and Rashawn Simpson (22.29).
400-meter dash: Three of the top five runners from the 2010 400-meter dash return this year, including Allen, Cortland’s Eric Banks and Oneonta’s Sean Wren. Allen finished second last year and has already automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship in the event, holding a conference record time of at 47.64. However, Allen will not be alone at the National meet because Cortland senior Gino Bisceglia has also qualified with a time of 48.07. Banks ranks fifth in the conference with a time of 49.82 and Wren ranks fourth with a time of 49.42.
800-meter run: Two-time SUNYAC Track Athlete of the Week and 2010 defending champion, Fredonia State senior Nick Guarino, leads a 16-man field in the 800-meter run. Guarino owns the top time in the conference of 1:50.99, set at the Lake Erie College Open on Jan. 28. His time is a SUNYAC Conference record and NCAA automatic qualifying time. Guarino set the championship meet record last year in the event with a winning time of 1:53.62. Cortland has a pair of runners in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, including Kyle Fitzpatrick who is hoping to improve upon his tenth place finish from last season, while Guarino’s twin brother, Josh sits fourth.
Mile: Geneseo junior Lee Berube is the lone SUNYAC athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championship in the event, holding a time of 4:09.15. Berube has yet to win an individual indoor title but is a two-time SUNYAC Cross Country champion. Fredonia’s Nick Guarino ranks second in the league with a time of 4:13.48 and Geneseo’s Tom Clark ranks third (4:14.14). Guarino hopes to defend his 2010 title which set a new meet record of 4:10.99 and led him to the 2010 national championship title in the event.
3,000-meter run: Geneseo owns the first, second and third spots on the entry sheet. Junior Eddie Novara leads a pack of Knights with a time of 8:34.36. He didn’t compete in the event in 2010, while senior Ryan O’Connor grabbed fourth and is seeded second and Berube is ranked third. Berube holds the conference record in the event with a time of 8:17.48 set in 2010. Two-time champion, Plattsburgh senior Mike Heymann could look for a three-peat in the event but isn’t entered and will focus on the 5,000.
5,000-meter run: The Geneseo theme continues in the 5,000-meter run but will face some stiff competition against Heymann. He holds the top seed by almost 30 seconds after setting a school and conference record in the event at the Boston University Terrier Classic with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 14:13.05 on Jan. 28. After Heymann is a quartet of Knights led by Novara and Bobby Henchen who placed second and fourth in 2010.
55-meter hurdles: With the graduation of Cortland’s Joe Keleher, a two-time SUNYAC 55-meter hurdle champion, there is room for another athlete to take the top spot. The top eight entries in the event are all from different schools, which would make for an exciting final if there was one representative from each team. Buffalo State freshman Chris Rones holds the top time (7.73), ahead of Fredonia junior Carl Caughell who ran a 7.94 at the RIT Orange/Brown Invite last weekend. Caughell, Brockport’s Joe Mussler and Cortland’s Nick Wilson each finished in the top eight in 2010.
4x400-meter relay: Entering the championship, Cortland has the top time in the 4x400-meter relay at 3:16.88. The winning time at the 2010 championship was 3:21.74 posted by Oneonta. Buffalo State was the runner-up last year and sits second this season with a time of 3:17.91 while Oneonta is searching for its third-straight title in the event.
Distance medley relay: Geneseo is the defending champion in the event and has the season’s top mark, notching a time of 9:53.21 as the only SUNYAC team to break the 10-minute mark this season. The quartet of Mark Streb, Niki Brown, Kevin Bronson and Lee Berube posted the conference record time on Jan. 28 at the Boston University Terrier Classic. Oneonta ranks second with a time of 10:11.73, while Cortland has won three of the last four distance medley relay titles.
High jump: The top three finishers from 2010 return this year but it is Geneseo senior Mike McManus sitting first. McManus cleared a height of 2.05 meters, the only SUNYAC competitor to clear two-meters. Defending champion, Plattsburgh sophomore Dustin Scott is tied in second with Cortland freshman Brandon Loomis at 1.98 meters. Only eight athletes will compete in the event at the championship.
Pole vault: Cortland junior Ryan Pericozzi looks to continue the Red Dragon dominance of the pole vault as he looks for back-to-back titles. The Red Dragons have won the event the past eight years. Pericozzi has the top performance in the league this season at 4.90 meters and holds the conference and meet record of 4.95m set in 2010. Brockport sophomore Zach Ferrara ranks second with a height of 4.80 meters, a big improvement from his 3.90meter and 16th place finish in 2010.
Long jump: Cortland senior Tomas Velasquez tries to become the first Red Dragon long jumper to win the event since Dave Hock in 2004. Velasquez ranks first entering the championship with a jump of 7.16 meters, the only competitor to clear seven-meters. He is followed by Geneseo’s Nwana Okafor, third place finisher if 2010, with a leap of 6.96 meters.
Triple jump: The last four years have featured a different school winning the triple jump, but Cortland hasn’t been one of them. Freshman Aaron Green could change that stat as he holds the top spot in the league with a distance of 14.65 meters. Teammate Will Razzano finished third last year and is ranked second entering the championship.
Shot put: Four of the top five competitors from 2010 return to toss the shot put this year. The 2010 champion, Geneseo senior Eric Rickman, has the third-best throw in the league this year at 15.28 meters. Buffalo State freshman Jonathan Jones leads the pack with a toss of 15.74 meters.
Weight throw: Brockport lays claim to each of the last six weight throw champions, and looks in position to take a seventh straight with the top two throwers in the conference this season. Senior Ray Lund, 2009 and 2010 champion, has the top performance in the league by almost two-meters with an NCAA qualifying distance of 18.85 meters, while Dustin Colgan is second with 16.73 meters.
Go back to the top of the men's event preview.
WOMEN
55-meter dash: Buffalo State junior Erica Johnson won the event in 2010 and owns the meet and conference record in the event. Johnson has the top performance in the league at 7.25, and is ranked in the top 16 in the country. Johnson leads a pack of Bengals who have eight of the top 11 times in the event. Brockport senior Melissa Scorse, the 2009 champion, finished third last year and is ranked ninth in the conference with a time of 7.53.
200-meter dash: Buffalo States owns seven of the top eight spots on the SUNYAC entry list in the 200-meter dash. Taniqua Hollingsworth looks to defend her title, as she ranks second in the conference with a time of 26.08. Freshman Jazmin Dunham ranks first at 26.05 and Cortland freshman Sarah Bonnell ranks third (26.14). Scorse is ranked 10th and hopes to return to the top of the podium to add to her 2009 title.
400-meter dash: Oneonta senior Liz Maziejka, defending champion, owns the top time of 58.77 of the SUNYAC qualifiers in the event. Maziejka and Plattsburgh junior Amy McCasland are the only two competitors with sub- one-minute times. Four of the top eight finishers from last year return to the field.
800-meter run: Oneonta junior Lauren Brunetto is hoping for back-to-back titles in the 800-meter run. Brunetto ranks first this season with an NCAA provisional time of 2:14.14, while teammate Carolyn Nasr, who finished third in 2010, ranks sixth with a time of 2:20.53.
Mile: Brunetto has a chance to be a double-winner at the championship, holding the conference’s top mile time of 5:12.86. The 2009 and 2010 champion, Geneseo junior Alyssa Smith, will be going for a three-peat. She ranks fourth in the event with a time of 5:15.54. Cortland sophomore Jordyn Naylon, a seventh –place finisher a year ago, sits second in the conference (5:13.52) and Plattsburgh’s Amanda Schermerhorn rounds out the top four (5:14.18).
3,000-meter run: 2010 SUNYAC Cross Country individual champion, Geneseo’s Marissa Liberati owns the top conference time in the 3,000-meter run by 14 seconds. Liberati’s time of 9:54.52, ranks ahead of teammate Alyssa Smith (10:18.47) and Cortland junior Alyson Dalton. Dalton is the defending champion in the event and will try to make it four straight titles for the Red Dragons after Alanna Hollborn and Lisa Holt won the event in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
5,000-meter run: Liberati also enters the 2011 championship with the No. 1 ranking in the 5,000 meter run. Liberati’s time of 17:22.37 also places her 10th in the nation, as she looks to become the tenth Knight to win the event in the last 11 years, after the Geneseo win streak was snapped by Cortland’s Alyson Dalton. Teammate Brigid Heenan is the top returning finisher from 2010, who claimed third and is currently ranked fourth. Plattsburgh looks for a strong performance from junior Julia Warren, who is currently third in the conference with a time of 18:21.46 and finished fifth a year ago.
55-meter hurdles: Two time champion (2008 and 2009), Fredonia senior Kate Brett looks to reclaim the title in the 55-meter hurdles. She enters the meet ranked second with a time of 8.81. The defending champion, Buffalo State junior Neshay Maxwell sits seventh in the conference with a time of 8.99. Teammate Jessica Walker, runner-up in 2010, enters the meet with the conference’s top performance this season of 8.59.
4x400-meter relay: The Plattsburgh Cardinals are coming off a fourth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay in 2010 and hold the top time in the conference this season at 4:00.80. Oneonta is less than a second behind at 4:01.69. The Red Dragons are the two-time defending champions and have won the title five the last six years (Buffalo State won in 2008).
Distance medley relay: Geneseo has won ten of the last 11 distance medley relay titles, but did not claim the top spot in 2010. That went to Oneonta with a meet record time of 12:46.97. The last time Geneseo didn’t win the event was in 1999 when they finished third behind champion Cortland. Oneonta enters the meet with a No. 4 seed time of 12:42.18, however Geneseo has the No. 1 spot with a time of 12:24.90.
High jump: Two of the top three high jumpers in the conference will represent Cortland. Senior Kristen Serikstad won the individual title in 2008 and 2009, but did not compete in 2010, and enters the 2011 championship ranked second with a jump of 1.65 meters. Freshman Lexi Budd is third, clearing a height of 1.60 meters. Oneonta sophomore Kacy Boburka is the top returning finisher from 2010 after placing fourth, and ranks first with a season-best NCAA provisional jump of 1.70 meters.
Pole vault: The last time Fredonia won the pole vault was in 1999 by Hilary Hulse, but Saturday that winless streak could be broken as the Blue Devils have the second and third ranked competitors. Sophomore Chelsea Caruso and freshman Kelci Yousett have cleared heights of 3.21 and 3.20 meters, respectively. But Brockport junior Becky Fabbiano should prove to be a tough challenge with a No. 1 height of 3.35 meters. Brockport last won the pole vault in back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006.
Long jump: The top spots on the podium could feature a trio of freshman competitors. Buffalo State freshman Jasmine Poles looks to follow in the footsteps of former Bengal LaVonne Barfield who won the long jump in 2008 and 2009. Poles ranks first in the conference with a leap of 5.27 meters this season. Oneonta freshman Michelle Chartrand stands second (5.13m) and Cortland freshman Sarah Bonnell is ranked third (5.06m) entering the weekend.
Triple jump: Four of the top eight finishers from the 2010 event return this year, including the defending champion Jessica Walker of Buffalo State. Walker posted the top performance this season with an NCAA provisional mark of 11.29 meters and she is followed by teammate Jasmine Poles with a leap of 11.08 meters. Oneonta freshman Kori Hamm ranks third (11.04m).
Shot put: Both the shot up and weight throw events are led by Brockport. Sophomore Nicole Jones tries to become the first Golden Eagle thrower to win the event since Jen Heim in 2006. Jones ranks first in the conference entering the championship with a toss of 11.98 meters. Freshman Kristine Hoover stands third in the event with a distance of 11.19 meters and Oneonta junior Sarah Timmons, who finished fifth in 2010, stand second (11.68m).
Weight throw: Two-time SUNYAC Field Athlete of the Week, Brockport’s Stephanie Powell looks for her second-straight title in the weight throw. Powell sits first in the conference with an NCAA-provisional mark of 16.23 meters. Timmons is second with a distance of 15.42, while Jones and Brockport’s Stacey Gibbins complete the top four. Timmons and Gibbins placed second and third in 2010, respectively.
