UTICA, NY - The Utica College Track and Field teams look to continue a successful season when they host the Blue and Orange Invitational on Saturday, January 29th. The meet will begin at 10 a.m. inside the Todd and Jennifer Hutton Sports and Recreation Dome.
Follow Along: The meet will be timed by the incredible folks at Leone Timing. You can access on-track results as they happen, and field event results shortly after their conclusion by visiting LeoneTiming.com.
The Field: This meet will be one of the largest of the season at the Hutton Dome. Athletes from Utica, SUNY Cortland, RPI, Hamilton College, Sage, Colgate, SUNY Oneonta, Alfred University, Alfred State, SUNY Cobleskill, Hudson Valley CC, UMass Amherst, SUNY ESF, Hartwick, LeMoyne, St. Rose, SUNY Delhi, MVCC, and SUNY Brockport are set to compete.
Event Schedule
Field Events
10:00 AM Long Jump (Women & Men - 2 Runways)
Following LJ: Triple Jump (Women & Men - 2 Runways)
10:00 AM Weight Throw (Women followed by Men)
10:00 AM Shot Put (Men followed by Women)
10:00 AM High Jump (Men & Women - 2 Pits)
10:00 AM Pole Vault (Women inside oval followed by Men outside oval)
Track Events
(All running events are women followed by men unless noted otherwise)
10:00 AM
5000m
11:00 AM
60m Hurdle Prelim
60m Prelim
Mile
60 Hurdle Finals (Men-Women)
400m
60m Finals
800m
200m
3000m
DMR
4x400m
Last Time Out: The Pioneers combined to win a total of seventeen events at the Hamilton Invitational on January 21st. No team scores were kept. The Pioneers swept all four throwing events at the meet, including a new shot put school record from Jane Fahy (Oriskany, NY/MVCC/Oriskany). Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden), Laura Meade (Glenville, NY/Scotia-Glenville), and Zuriel Wright all won multiple individual events as well.
Athlete of the Week: Jane Fahy (Oriskany, NY/MVCC/Oriskany) took home conference Field Athlete of the Week honors for a second straight week on Monday. Fahy once again rewrote her own school shot put record on Friday at the Hamilton Invitational. The second-year Pioneer crushed her previous mark by over half a meter, lofting out a 13.08-meter throw to set a new program standard. Fahy's new record mark stands as the 11th-best performance to date in Division III this season.
On The National Scene: The Pioneers currently have eight event performances sitting in the top 50 nationally, according to the latest NCAA indoor performance list. Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden) holds the nation's #21 mark at 200 meters with a 26.28, which she ran at the Hutton Dome on December 11th. Zuriel Wright holds down two top 50 spots, as he's ranked tenth in the high jump at 2.01 meters, and 49th in the long jump at 6.74 meters. In the throws, Hunter Logan is in seventh nationally among men's competitors in the shot put at 15.74 meters, while Fahy's performance of 13.08 is eleventh on the women's leaderboard. Andrew Wieder's 3,866 point heptathlon outing from December is listed as nineteenth nationally. UC Women's Track and Field also has two relay teams in the top 50 nationally, with the 4x400 relay posting the nation's 41st fastest time, and the distance medley relay team logging the nation's 26th fastest time.
Atop The Conference: The Pioneers also have twelve event performances that rest at the top of the Empire 8 leaderboard at this point in the season. In the sprints, Daijon Richards has put up the fastest men's 60 meter time of 7.05 seconds, just ahead of Josh Washington's 7.06. Mix is the leader among women's competitors at 200 meters with her nationally-ranked time. Jaevon Ardrey and Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez (East Hartford, CT/East Hartford) set the pace at 500 meters with performances from the Utica Winter Opener held on January 15th. Ardrey put together a time of 1:10.27, while Cruz-Bermudez leads the E8 by over a second in 1:25.37. UC has the lead in both 4x400 meter relays and the women's Distance Medley Relay. Laura Meade (Glenville, NY/Scotia-Glenville) is the conference's top triple jumper with a mark of 10.67 meters. Logan and Fahy lead the E8 with their nationally-prominent shot put marks, while Antwan Kelly closed out the 2021 portion of the indoor schedule with a 15.96 meter weight throw performance that sits atop his E8 peers. Andrew Wieder leads the heptathlon standings.
A Tall Task: Utica is fortunate to have two athletes in the short sprints who have been tough to beat in their college careers. Sophomore Daijon Richards has lost just one time at 60 meters in his college indoor career, which was at the 2021 E8 indoor championships. He is otherwise undefeated at that distance, with victories in the finals at three meets. Outdoors, he was the E8 100 meter and 200 meter champion last year. Freshman Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden) is undefeated in finals competition at distances of 300 meters and shorter. She is 6-1 in individual finals overall to begin her career, with her lone defeat coming at 400 meters.
Up Next: The Pioneers will play host to the Pioneer Invitational on February 5th and 6th.
