UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's and women's track and field teams put together another excellent performance heading into the winter break. The UC men stand in third with 68 points, while the UC women marked down 80 points to place in fourth as the Pioneers hosted the UC Holiday Classic at the Hutton Dome. The men's competition completes on Sunday with the conclusion of the heptathlon.
The UC women got 40 of their 79 points in individual running events at distances 800 meters or below, and that total improves to 50 when one includes their win in the 4x400 relay.
Mackenzie Mix had a magnificent day individually to lead UC's big day on the track. She posted wins at 200 and 300 meters. Her college 200 meter debut time of 26.28 not only won, but propelled the multi-sport stalwart into AARTFC qualification. Mix also snagged a second straight win at 300 meters to start her career as she put a 42.15 on the board to improve on her debut performance. Alexis Cole was fifth in 44.82 in the 300.
In the 60 meter hurdles,
Sophie Henderson (Rome, NY/RFA) was second in 9.74 seconds, a time which leads the Empire 8 Conference at the end of the day Saturday.
At 800 meters, Jade Dening was second with a 2:30.21 clocking, while senior Laura Levi was fifth in 2:35.76. Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez put together UC's lone scoring effort in the women's 400 with a 1:03.01 to place fourth.
Laura Meade turned in a strong jumping performance as well for the UC women. The veteran jumper was second in the triple jump at 10.67 meters, and placed fourth in the long jump with a 4.98 meter effort.
In the women's throws, Gabrielle DeSanctis was sixth in the weight throw at a mark of 12.85 meters, while Cassidy Cook was fifteenth in the women's shot put.
DeSanctis also finished eighth in the women's pole vault.
The women's 4x400 team of Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez, Jade Dening, Laura Meade, and Mackenzie Mix won with a 4:11.04 effort.
The UC men were helmed by a 19 point outing in the long jump alone. Zuriel Wright (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) led the way by bounding to a distance of 6.74 meters to place second and grab eight team points. Josh Washington was fourth at a 6.65 meter distance, and Sei Sei (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) was fifth at 6.64. Also in the jumps, Wright chaired up a triple podium with a runner-up high jump performance at 2.01 meters, with Justin Valentin (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) coming in sixth, and Cooper Jones (Rio Rancho, NM/Rio Rancho) eighth.
Another athlete with UC connections also performed well in the triple jump, as unattached athlete Ka'sean Watlington won the triple jump in 14.40 meters while preparing to represent UC in his final outdoor season.
In the men's throwing events, Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) delivered the best weight throw outing since his rookie season with a 15.96 meter performance to place second. That throw punches his ticket to the AARTFC meet later this season, the very meet where Kelly recorded his personal best two years ago. Nathan Florian added one team point with an eighth place finish. The UC men also put three athletes in the points in the shot put, led by Hunter Logan's (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) third place finish at 15.28 meters. Logan's performance was the best indoor throw of his college career so far, and improved on his existing AARTFC qualifier status. Arthur Bittel (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was sixth in 13.68 meters, while Billie Mays III (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) landed in eighth at 12.64 meters.
On the track, Josh Washington had a convincing new personal best at 60 meters in a strong field, as his 7.06 was good for fourth, and he also became the fourth-fastest 60 meter dash athlete in program history with that mark. Hayden Lohmann (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) and Michael Roberts (Remsen, NY/Remsen) each placed eighth in their respective events. Lohmann did so in the 800 meters at 2:06.18, while Roberts snagged a point in the 3,000 meters in 9:28. Delon Smith (Bronx, NY/Harry S. Truman) turned in an eighth place performance in the 300 with a time of 39.31. Justin Valentin (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) was sixth in the men's 60 hurdles in 9.29 seconds.
After the first day of the men's heptathlon, Andrew Wieder (Clinton, NY/Clinton) is third with 2,344 points. Two unattached athletes with UC ties are competing with him. Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) is second with 2,359 points while preparing for a final go outdoors, and assistant coach Sam Catterson is fourth with 1,739 points. That competition continues on Sunday.
