UTICA, NY - The Utica College track and field teams saw another school record fall, while other strong performances were scattered throughout the afternoon at the Blue and Orange Invitational held at the Hutton Dome. The UC women placed fourth in the team competition with 52 points, while the UC men were eighth with 30 points.
Mackenzie Mix was the story of the day for the Pioneers as she wrote her name into the record books with a school record performance at 400 meters. Mix was the runner-up in 59.65 seconds, and was the fastest Division III competitor, with the winner coming from Division I UMass. At the end of Saturday's competition nationwide, Mix was 25th in the nation with that school record time. Mix was also third in the 200 meters in 26.39 seconds, and teamed up with Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez, Laura Meade, and Jade Dening on a second place finish in the 4x400 relay at a time of 4:13.08.
Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) led the way for the UC men by posting the team's only event win of the day in the men's shot put. He topped the table with a new personal best of 16.05 meters. That mark is seventh-best in the country.
Elsewhere in the throws, Jane Fahy placed second in the women's shot put at 12.71 meters, Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was fourth in the men's weight throw at 15.67 meters, and Gabrielle Desanctis was eighth in the women's weight throw in 13.16 meters.
In the jumps, Meade had her second best triple jump mark of the season at 10.61 meters for a fifth place finish. She also qualified for the finals at 60 meters, and placed seventh with a season-best of 8.28 seconds. Zuriel Wright (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) cleared 1.89 meters for a second place performance in the men's high jump. Makiya Donnelly was sixth in the women's high jump at a 1.51 meter bar.
Topping the on-track performances for the UC women was a pair of mid-distance performances, and a finals qualification in the hurdles. Laura Levi ran her fastest 800 meter time of the season while finishing fourth in 2:34.30. Jade Dening made her college mile debut and ran a 5:32.31 to place third. Sophie Henderson qualified for the finals in the 60 hurdles, and placed eighth against a finals field featuring four Division I athletes. Henderson ran a 10.01 in the prelims to make the final.
In men's on-track performances, Daijon Richards (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon) and Josh Washington placed eighth and ninth at 200 meters, with Richards leading the squad with a 23.41. At 400 meters, Wright laced up the racing shoes and was eighth in 53.12 seconds. Tristan Vargo (East Aurora, NY/Orchard Park) was thirteenth in the 800 meters in 2:09, and Michael Roberts (Remsen, NY/Remsen) and Hayden Lohmann (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) placed eleventh and twelfth in the mile, with Roberts logging a 4:41. James Boss (/Moorpark College) was the fastest Pioneer in the 60 meter dash prelims with a 7.53.
The Pioneers will host the Pioneer Invitational next weekend.
