GENESEO, NY - The Utica College men's track and field team delivered some excellent early season performances, some even in championship season form, as they opened the outdoor season at the Geneseo Early Season Invitational.

The biggest performance of the day came from freshman thrower Deandre Fyffe, who posted the most impressive event debut in Utica College track and field history in the discus. Fyffe threw a school and Empire 8 record 52.10 meters on his first collegiate throw in the discus, and in the process, he announced his contendership for the national championship. His maiden throw in the discus currently stands second nationally, and would have gotten Fyffe on the podium at last year's NCAA outdoor championships.

The discus performance headlined a dominant day in the throws for Utica. Fyffe went on to double up on the throwing events as he also won the shot put in a new collegiate personal best of 15.39 meters. Empire 8 shot put record holder and NCAA qualifier Keanu Heedram (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) finished third in the shot put at 14.50 meters, and set a new personal best while topping his former discus record with a fourth place finish in that event with a toss of 48.56 meters. Zack Leader (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) was eighth in the shot put at 13.09 meters.

Another school record came from distance runner Mitchell Marlow (Malone, NY/Franklin Academy), who set a new Utica College track and field record in the men's 5,000 meters on Saturday. Marlow placed fifth in a time of 15:25 to break Morgan Payne's 2012 school record performance by almost eleven seconds.

Elsewhere in the field events, NCAA qualifier Marquis Simpson (Middle Island, NY/Longwood) placed fourth in the long jump at 6.61 meters, and fellow national meet attendee Ka'sean Watlington was eighth at 6.31 meters. Sean Murphy (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) was eighth in the triple jump in a performance of 12.28 meters. Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) excelled with a fifth place finish in the pole vault at a clearance of 4.26 meters.

A limited number of running event athletes competed on Saturday, with many scheduled others scratched from the entry list. Dean Howard (Sidney Center, NY/Sidney) was 28th in the 200 meters in 23.90, and was 19th in the 400 in 54.74. Just in front of Howard in the 400 was Jordan Smith (Tolland, CT/Tolland), who finished 18th in a time of 54.52. David Samet (Wantagh, NY/General Douglas MacArthur) ran the 800 in a season-opening time of 2:11.94, and completed the double with a 4:29 performance at 1,500 meters. Hunter Reed (Buffalo, NY/Clarence) was 56th in the 1,500 in a performance of 4:33.77. Ka'sean Watlington and Jacob Pishkula (Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa) placed 18th and 19th respectively in the 100 meter dash.