CLINTON, NY - The Utica University track and field program had another successful outing at Saturday's Hamilton Invitational. Freshman sprinter Mackenzie Mix toppled another long-standing sprints record, Graduate jumper Ka'Sean Watlington (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Bluepoint) swept the horizontal jumps for a second straight week, the Pioneers had two national top five marks, and the squads combined to win a total of ten events over the course of the meet. No team scores were kept. 

Mix's latest record time came at 200 meters. The rookie sensation won the event with a school-record time of 25.44 seconds. That narrowly tops Lauren Delude's record time of 25.45 seconds set at Westfield State in 2012. She also won the 400 meters in 59.07 seconds. 

Watlington turned in another pair of victories in the horizontal jumps. His 7.08 meter long jump is his best in that event since the 2019 outdoor season. In the triple jump, he landed at 14.62 meters for a season best. Both marks are in the top 15 nationally at the end of the day Saturday, including a fourth place ranking in the triple jump. 

Daijon Richards (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon) turned in a strong performance of his own in the sprints with a solid double. He won the 100 meters in 11.14 seconds, and was third at 200 meters in 22.69. He was just three hundreths off of a personal best in the latter. 

Laura Meade was impressive on the track, and in the field with two personal bests to show for her afternoon. She was second at 100 meters with a personal best time of 12.89 seconds, and won the 400 hurdles in another personal best performance of 1:08.05. Her 400 meter time is third-best in school history. Meade was also second in the triple jump at a mark of 10.58 meters. 

The women's 4x100 meter relay team of Meade, Mix, Ayjah Clarke, and Alexis Cole put together a time of 49.69 to improve on the time set in the season opener. The men's 4x100 team of Shane Tinney (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany), Ethan Kain, Nyles Rogers (Suffern, NY/Suffern), and Quallan Brown was third in a time of 45.56 seconds. 

Ayjah Clarke narrowly missed out on a personal best at 100 meters with a fifth place finish in 13.40 seconds. 

Jade Dening led the Pioneer mid-distance and distance squads with a versatile double. She was fourth at 800 meters with a time of 2:27.03, and put down a third place finish with a time of 19:27 in her collegiate 5k debut. 

Brady Szekeres (Accord, NY/Rondout Valley) was third in the men's 110 hurdles with a time of 16.97. Sophie Henderson was the runner-up in the women's 100 hurdles in a time of 16.31 seconds for a new personal best time. Henderson also set a new personal best at 200 meters. 

A sweep of the shot put victories was a notable highlight of the field events for Utica. Jane Fahy won the women's shot put at 12.48 meters, while Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) heaved a 15.89 meter throw to claim the men's competition and rank fourth nationally after Saturday's competitions. 

Nathan Florian and Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) went first and second in the men's discus at 40.88 and 40.85 meters, respectively. Gabrielle DeSanctis was third in the women's hammer throw at 39.86 meters. Chase Pecoraro (Medina, NY/Medina) was third in the javelin at 48.01 meters, with Justin Swavely (Rome, NY/RFA) placing fourth. 

Pecoraro scored the victory in the men's pole vault by clearing a height of 4.20 meters. 

The Pioneers will play host to an outdoor meet for the first time on Saturday, April 9th.