May 31, 2011
15 All-Americans at Division III Track and Field Championships
The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) had a strong showing over the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, with several top athletes in action at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships. SUNYAC student-athletes claimed two individual national championships and 12 All-America honors at the meet held in Delaware, Ohio.
The top SUNYAC team showing at the championships came courtesy of the Fredonia men. The Blue Devils finished ninth in the overall standings with 20 points, while Buffalo State was one point behind Fredonia, finishing 10th with 19 points. The top women’s team was Buffalo State in 13th with 14 points and Geneseo tied for 28th with nine points.
Fredonia’s Nick Guarino highlighted the weekend with two national championship titles. (Full Story)
In addition to Guarino’s performance the SUNYAC conference had 11 individual and two relay All-American performances through the championship meet.
Buffalo State’s Xavier Mateen raced to a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash (10.96), and was sixth in the 200-meter dash (22.31). Jalen Law placed fifth in the 200-meter dash (22.27). The duet teamed up with Rawl Carew and Rashawn Simpson to place second in the 4x100-meter relay in a time of 41.04 seconds, .28 seconds behind the champs.
The Bengal’s women’s 4x100-meter relay of Taniqua Hollingsworth, Jazmin Dunham, Lakeisha Nicholas and Erica Johnson earned a runner-up position, racing to a school and conference record time of 46.44 seconds. The previous conference record was set in 2006. Johnson added a third place showing in the women’s 100-meter dash, clocking 12.05 seconds.
The Bengal’s women’s 4x100-meter relay of Taniqua Hollingsworth, Jazmin Dunham, Lakeisha Nicholas and Erica Johnson earned a runner-up position, racing to a school and conference record time of 46.44 seconds. The previous conference record was set in 2006. Johnson added a third place showing in the women’s 100-meter dash, clocking 12.05 seconds.
SUNY Geneseo sent four members to the championship meet and each competitor turned in an All-American performance. Junior Nwana Okafor, who was seeded 19th in the long jump, earned his first career All-America certificate by finishing eighth with a leap of 6.97 meters. Junior Lee Berube claimed All-America recognition in the 5,000 meters by finishing seventh in a time of 14:47.09. Berube earned his fifth All-America award as he won national honors in the indoor 5,000 meters in 2010 and 2011, the distance medley relay indoors in 2010 and in cross country in the fall of 2010.
On the women’s side, Geneseo sophomore Marissa Liberati and junior Alyssa Smith held their seeds in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, each earning All-America honors by finishing fourth in a SUNYAC and school record time of 10:33.03 and fifth in 10:34.60, respectively. Liberati claimed her second All-America award to go along with her 2010 cross country national honor, while Smith earned her first national recognition.
Cortland high jumper Kristen Serikstad earned All-American honors when she tied for eighth place with a height of 1.67 meters. She officially tied for eighth due to the number of misses at different heights for those competitors. Serikstad cleared 1.57 meters on her first attempt and successfully notched both 1.62 meters and 1.67 meters on her third and final attempt at each of those heights. Serkistad completes her career as a five-time All-American in the high jump.
The Red Dragons got another All-American performance from senior Gino Bisceglia, who finished third in the 400 meter dash with a school record performance of 47.50. He entered nationals as the school record-holder at 47.75 seconds, then broke the mark in Friday's preliminaries at 47.71 seconds to advance to the finals. Bisceglia finishes his career with three All-America honors.
Plattsburgh State senior distance standout Mike Heymann also ended his career over the weekend with an All-American performance. The Cardinal athlete took fourth in the 10,000-meter run (30 minutes, 31.42 seconds), earning his seventh All-American recognition of his career and the most in Plattsburgh State history.
