UTICA, NY - The Utica College track and field teams had another successful outing as they hosted the Pioneer Invitational on Saturday at the Hutton Dome.
The UC men are third with 106.5 points with the remaining events of the heptathlon still to go, while the UC women placed fourth with 82 points.
In the throws, a sweep of the shot put was on the menu again for UC. Jane Fahy topped the charts with a mark of 12.71 meters, while Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) delivered a 16.03 meter toss to stand atop the men's shot put standings. Logan was just short of his personal best of 16.05 meters. Gabrielle DeSanctis was fourth in the women's weight throw at 14.41 meters, which was a new personal best.
In the jumps, Laura Meade finished third in the long jump (4.90 meters), and triple jump (10.51 meters). She was the top Division III competitor in both events. Athletes with connections to UC Track and Field swept the top three places in the men's long jump. Ka'sean Watlington put together a 6.93 meter long jump while competing unattached, while Zuriel Wright (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) (6.52m) and Sei Sei (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) (6.39m) were second and third. Wright won the men's high jump by clearing a bar of 1.89 meters, while Makiya Donnelly (1.51m) was second in the women's high jump.
On the track, it was a successful day in the hurdles and sprints.
Sophie Henderson was the runner-up in the women's 60 hurdles with her second-fastest time of the season in the finals, as she marked down a 9.88 second finishing time. In the men's hurdles, Justin Valentin (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) (9.38) and Brady Szekeres (Accord, NY/Rondout Valley) (9.66) were fourth and fifth in the finals.
Josh Washington placed second in the men's 60 meters in 7.10 seconds, while Daijon Richards (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon) was third at 7.11 seconds. Mackenzie Mix was third in the women's 60 meters with a clocking of 8.11 seconds to tie her season-best. Ayjah Clarke was sixth. Mix also placed second at 200 meters with a time of 26.37.
Jade Dening came in fourth in the women's 800 meters with a college-level personal best of 2:25.28. Kristin Daino was twelfth in the women's mile with a 6:10.70. Michael Roberts (Remsen, NY/Remsen) was fifteenth in the men's 3,000 meters in 9:26.49.
The 4x400 meter relay teams each produced a third place showing. The UC women's 4x200 meter relay team of Mix, Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez, Meade, and Gianna Cognetti was third in an extremely competitive field with a time of 1:51. The UC men's 4x200 squad was victorious as Washington, Richards, Wright, and James Boss (/Moorpark College) got the baton around in 1:32.22. Utica's "B" and "C" entries came in third and fourth in that race.
In the men's heptathlon, Andrew Wieder (Clinton, NY/Clinton) sits in command of the standings with 2,399 points through four events. Unattached athlete Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) is in third as he prepares to compete for UC outdoors. Those two athletes will return to the dome for the final three events at 10 a.m. Sunday.
