UTICA, NY - The Utica College Track and Field program embarks on the start of championship season this weekend at the 2021 Empire 8 Conference men's and women's outdoor track and field championships hosted by St. John Fisher College. The meet will be held on Friday, May 7th, and Saturday, May 8th at the Polisseni Track and Field Complex in Rochester. 

Follow Along: Live video and results will be available throughout the championships. Live video can be viewed at portal.stretchinternet.com/sjfc, and live results will be brought to you by the excellent crew at Leone Timing. Those can be seen at LeoneTiming.com. 

Event Schedule: A full schedule of events can be located at https://athletics.sjfc.edu/documents/2021/5/4/Empire_8_Outdoor_Track_and_Field_Schedule_of_Events.pdf.

Meet Entries: Can be found ahead of the meet at https://www.leonetiming.com/2021/Outdoor/Empire8/Entries.pdf.  

Last Time At The Championships: The 2019 Empire 8 Outdoor Championships were the last to be held, and the team titles were won by the Stevens Institute of Technology. The Utica men's and women's teams each placed third. The squads combined to win a total of eight events. At the 2021 E8 Indoor Championships, the UC Men and Women both placed in third position. The UC men's squad totaled 59 points, and the women's squad totaled 66. UC swept the men's and women's shot put titles indoors as Jane Fahy (Oriskany, NY/MVCC/Oriskany) topped the podium with a school-record throw of 12.33 meters, and Arthur Bittel (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) led a quadruple podium for the men with a throw of 14.39 meters to grab the title in just his second college meet. 

The Returning Champions: Two years later, the Pioneers' roster still sports three athletes who won championships outdoors in 2019. Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) (Pole Vault) and Caroline Castriotta (Barre, MA/Quabbin Regional) (100 meters) are both back for their title defenses. Nicole Herringshaw (North Syracuse, NY/CNS) (Javelin) is still listed on the Pioneers' roster as well, but has not competed this spring. 

The Jumping Jotting: One of Utica's best areas to score points this weekend rests in their jumping events. The UC Men will be keeping a close eye on the pole vault, high jump, and triple jump events this weekend. Zuriel Wright (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) and Justin Valentin (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) return to build off their indoor podium performances in the high jump. Wright will enter as the second seed in the high jump with a 1.90 meter seed mark, and Valentin will enter with the eighth seed. Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) enters the competition after missing the indoor championships and will be seeded fourth at 1.81 meters. Pecoraro will be the top seed in the men's pole vault at 4.40 meters, with teammate Kyle Swiecki (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) seeded sixth at 3.70 meters. In the triple jump, Zuriel Wright (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) is seeded second with a 12.95 meter performance, and Sei Sei (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) is seeded fourth. Sei is also seeded fifth in the long jump.

The UC Women are also loaded in the jumps with the trio of Kelsey Wands (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Laura Meade (Glenville, NY/Scotia-Glenville), and Caroline Castriotta (Barre, MA/Quabbin Regional) anchoring the lineup. Wands will be the conference's top seed in the women's long jump with a seeding mark of 5.57 meters. Meade will be the fourth seed in the triple jump at 10.75 meters, and will also be seeded eighth in the long jump and high jump. Castriotta is in contention in the women's pole vault if she can get a personal best. She will be seeded third at 2.90 meters. 

Bringing In The Big Guns: Utica's throws squad has a bevy of contenders entering this year's championship. The biggest name to know is Jane Fahy (Oriskany, NY/MVCC/Oriskany), who has led the Women's throws group all season for the Pioneers. She now has her name to the indoor and outdoor school records in the shot put, and enters as that event's top seed with a mark of 12.69 meters as she looks to sweep indoor and outdoor conference titles. Fahy will also be seeded fourth in the discus at 33.25 meters, and eighth in the javelin throw. Gabrielle DeSanctis (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) is the top option for Utica in the hammer throw with a fifth-seeded mark of 38.50 meters, and Cora Maxwell will be counted on to score points in the javelin. The UC Men are led by the underclassman 1-2-3 punch in the shot put of Arthur Bittel (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Brady VanAernam (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown), and Jacob Barnes (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). Like Fahy, Bittel will be chasing a semester sweep of the E8 shot put titles, but will have to make up close to a meter on the competitors in front of him as he enters with the third seeded mark of 13.44 meters. VanAernam is fourth at 12.59 meters, and Barnes will enter sixth at 12.26 meters. In the rotational throwing events, Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) remains the big ticket threat to chase down top-seeded Chase Corcoran of St. John Fisher. Kelly is seeded second in the discus at 43.06 meters, and in the hammer throw at a mark of 46.98 meters. Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) headlines a quartet of point-scoring threats in the javelin with his E8 leading mark of 55.05 meters. Joel Field (Princeton, MA/Wachusset Regional), Anthony Ricozzi (Carmel, NY/Carmel), and Jacob Barnes (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) are all ranked in the top ten. 

Sprint Stories: Utica's strongest opportunity to score points on the track individually will be in the sprints and hurdles. For the UC Women's squad, Caroline Castriotta (Barre, MA/Quabbin Regional) will look to defend her title at 100 meters and enters with a 12.90 second seed time and the third seed. Laura Meade (Glenville, NY/Scotia-Glenville) is right behind her with a time of 13.02 and the fourth seed. Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez (East Hartford, CT/East Hartford) is another athlete worth paying attention to as she enters with the eighth seed at 200 meters, and the seventh seed at 400 meters. Cora Maxwell will be Utica's top hope in both hurdles events, including the fourth overall seed in the 400 hurdles. For the UC Men, the dual threat of Daijon Richards (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon) and Josh Washington will both have a chance at the 100 meter title. Both athletes stand within two-tenths of the leading time, with Richards seeded second in 11.35 seconds, and Washington ranking third at 11.46 seconds. The pair are ranked at the edge of the points at 200 meters. In the men's hurdles, Kyle Swiecki (Boonville, NY/Adirondack) carries the third seed in the 110 high hurdles, while rookie Jonathan Simmons (Broadalbin, NY/Broadalbin-Perth) holds the top seed in the 400 hurdles with a time of 59.12 seconds. 

Up Next: The Pioneers will attend a meet to be announced next weekend ahead of the All-Atlantic Region Championships.