UTICA, NY - Four conference champions and one new school record highlighted the day for the Utica University track and field program as it wrapped up competition at the Empire 8 Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday. Both squads placed third in the team competition, with the men recording a final total of 108 points, and the Utica women logging 81 points in the two-day event held at the Hutton Dome.
Leading the way was the effort of Makiya Donnelly, who broke a longstanding school record in the women's high jump. Donnelly powered to an AARTFC qualifying height of 1.60 meters to claim her first Empire 8 Championship and write her name into the record books.
Joining her on the list of jumps champions was Laura Meade. Meade became a two-time E8 Indoor Champion in the triple jump as her season-best mark of 11.12 meters stood atop the podium. She also won the 2020 title.
Mackenzie Mix set a convincing personal best time of 25.81 seconds to win at 200 meters and claim her first Empire 8 Championship. She was the only athlete in the field under 26 seconds.
Elsewhere on the track, it was redemption time for Daijon Richards (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon). Last season, he ran the fastest time of the preliminary round at 60 meters, only to come up just shy of the title with a runner-up performance in the finals. This season, Richards moved up to the top step of the podium with a 7.08 second performance to claim his first E8 Indoor title. He helmed up a triple podium in that event, with teammate Joshua Washington (Centereach, NY/Centereach) placing second in 7.13 seconds, and Terrance Toussaint (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) set another career-best of 7.23 seconds to place fourth.
Besides the championships won, numerous other point scoring performances were on the docket on Saturday.
Meade collected a single point in the women's 60 meters with a time of 8.14 seconds.
In the men's 200 meters, Washington and Richards placed second and third with times of 22.78 and 22.87, respectively. Washington's time was a new personal best.
In the hurdles, Justin Valentin (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) produced a career-best 9.01 second performance to place in fourth position in the men's finals. Sophie Henderson came up just shy of her season best performance with a 9.74 second run over the hurdles for fourth in the women's final.
Jade Dening backed up yesterday's personal best in the mile with a new personal mark at 800 meters today. The freshman placed second in a time of 2:24.86 to out-class her previous best set on the high banks at Boston University.
Three Pioneers landed on the podium in the weight throw. In women's competition, Gabrielle DeSanctis was fifth with a mark of 13.87 meters. Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was third in men's competition with a 15.70 meter output, while teammate Nathan Florian came in fourth.
A new personal best high jump mark was in the cards for Zuriel Wright (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial), as he was the conference runner-up in the high jump with a 2.02 meter clearance. He was also just shy of his personal best in the triple jump as he placed second at a distance of 13.51 meters.
In a hotly contested women's 4x400 relay, the Utica women put together a third place finish in 4:06.31. The Pioneer men were fifth in 3:38.14.
The Pioneers now will have a select squad set their sights on the AARTFC Championships in hopes of making it onto NCAA Competition. The majority of the team will begin preparations for outdoor competition next month.
