UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's and women's track and field teams open up the 2021 outdoor schedule as they visit SUNY Cortland for the Cortland Challenge. The meet will be a two-day affair, with women's competition taking place on Sunday, April 11th at 1 p.m., and men's competition following on Monday, April 12th at 3 p.m. Both days of competition will be held at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.

Follow Along: Per the State University of New York Athletic Conference, no spectators will be permitted on campus at any of their member institutions this spring, which includes SUNY Cortland. Live timing will be provided through the exceptional crew at Leone Timing at https://www.leonetiming.com/. Fans may also watch live video available at https://www.cortlandreddragons.com/sports/2019/8/15/BlueFramePage.aspx.

Busy Bees: Utica is having arguably its busiest weekend ever between the Cross Country and Track and Field programs. The men's and women's cross country teams will compete Friday at the Empire 8 Championship, while the Track and Field teams have a two day competition from Sunday into Monday. 

Indoor Championship Recap: The Pioneers rounded out their winter season with the Empire 8 Championships hosted by Nazareth College. Both teams placed third with the women's squad scoring 66 points, and the men's squad scoring 59 points. Jane Fahy was the lone event winner for the women's squad as she scored victory on a school record performance in the shot put. All-rounder Laura Meade scored a third of the team's points across four different events. The Utica men's squad was paced by a quadruple podium in the men's shot put, with that effort chaired up by an Empire 8 title-winning performance by Arthur Bittel (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool).

At The Last Outdoor Championship: The Pioneers had a solid championship performance the last time they competed for a title outdoors. The UC Men were third with 162 points at the 2019 Empire 8 Outdoor Championship, and the UC Women were also third with 138 points. 2021 Pioneers Nicole Herringshaw and Caroline Castriotta turned in huge performances to help the women's effort with Herringshaw winning the javelin title, and Castriotta pulling off a stunner to win the title at 100 meters. Additionally, Class of 2019 thrower Emily Fales went 12.42 meters in the shot put for an outdoor school record and a second place finish. For the men's squad, Mitchell Marlow (Malone, NY/Franklin Academy) won at 5,000 meters, Tyler Sutton (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) won at 800 meters, and Zack Leader (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) won the shot put. Additionally, All-American Ka'Sean Watlington (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Bluepoint) won the long jump, Jordan Smith (Tolland, CT/Tolland High School) topped the Javelin, and Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) was the winner of the Pole Vault.

Promise In The Sprints: The sprinting events could be a great source of strength for the Pioneers from beginning to end this spring. For the men, Daijon Richards (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon) flashed a lot of brilliance in a short time this indoor season, as he went as fast as 7.05 seconds at 60 meters, and went on to place second at the conference championships. Zuriel Wright (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) also looked solid and placed third at 60 meters in a time of 7.27 seconds. For the women, Caroline Castroptta was second in the 60 meters with a time of 8.24 seconds. She was the squad's top 100 meter runner in a time of 12.60 seconds. In the hurdles, Justin Valentin (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) is the top men's prospect after a 9.13 run in the 60 hurdles this winter, and Cora Maxwell was a third place finisher in the indoor women's 60 hurdles at E8s and should make an impact not only in the hurdles, but also in the multi-event competitions as the season progresses.

Jumping For Joy: As the entire team continues to re-establish its competitive fitness after a much longer than usual offseason and a short indoor season, the Utica jumps group should be at the head of the pack as the season progresses. Laura Meade was second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump indoors at E8s. She could be in for a massive outdoor season by the time the E8 Championships roll around if she continues to trend back to her peak performances of last season. She was the 2020 E8 Indoor Triple Jump Champion. Gianna Cognetti will be another member of the women's jump squad to watch after a third place finish at E8s in the triple jump, and freshman Amina Sinclair has emerged as the top vertical jumper of the group with a 1.53 meter high jump clearance indoors. Sophomores are dominating the men's jumps for Utica right now. Wright had the top men's clearance in the high jump at 1.85 meters, Sei Sei (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) was the team's top long jumper with a bound of 6.42 meters indoors, and Matthew Breault (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) got out to a distance of 12.10 meters in the triple jump. All three performances landed on the podium at the E8 Championships.

A Long, Long Way: The Utica throws unit should also be primed for a big outdoor season after winning both shot put titles indoors. In addition to her talents in the shot put, Jane Fahy should be impactful in the full range of throwing events. She was either first or second at the 2019 NJCAA Region III Outdoor Championships in the shot put, hammer throw, discus throw, and javelin throw, and podiumed in the shot put, discus, and javelin at the national championships. Veteran javelin thrower Nicole Herringshaw also returns after chasing national qualification over the last few seasons. Arthur Bittel (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) is the latest headline maker for the men's throws crew after his E8 title win, but Justin Swavely (Rome, NY/RFA) and Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) should both be on course for huge outdoor seasons as two of the most decorated throwers in NYSPHSAA Section III history. Bittel, Swavely, and Kelly are all expected to make their college outdoor debuts this season.

The full meet schedule is below.

TRACK EVENT SCHEDULE

Sunday, 4/11 (Women)	Track Events	Monday, 4/12 (Men)
1PM	4 x 100	3PM
1:10	1500	3:10
1:25	100/110 Hurdles	3:25
1:40	400	3:40
1:50	5k	3:50
2:15	100	4:15
2:25	800	4:25
2:40	400IH	4:40
2:55	200	4:55
3:10	3000SC	5:10
3:25	4 x 400	5:25
3:30	10,000	5:30

 

Sunday, 4/11 (Women)	Field Events	Monday, 4/12 (Men)
1PM	Triple Jump	3PM
Follows TJ	Long Jump	Follows TJ
1PM	Pole Vault	3PM
Follows PV	High Jump	Follows PV
1PM	Hammer	3PM
Follows HT	Shot Put	Follows HT
Follows SP	Discus	Follows SP
Follows DT	Javelin	Follows DT