UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's indoor track and field team will travel to Nazareth University for the All-Atlantic Regional Track and Field Conference Indoor Championships starting on Friday, March 1 at 12 noon and continuing on Saturday, March 2 at 10 a.m.
 
Follow Along: Live results will be available here courtesy of Leone Timing. 
 
Tickets: Tickets for adults will be $5.00 and free of charge for children under the age of 12. 
 
Last Time Out: The Utica University men's track and field team finished second at the Empire 8 Championships with 160.4 points. Utica earned 26 points in the shot put, 18 in the 400m, 10 in the distance medley, eight in the long jump, four in the mile and four in the pole vault. Utica saw pure dominance in the shot put with four placing in the top five. Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) captured first place with a 16.01m toss. Logan has placed first in every shot put event this season that he has competed in. Billie Mays III (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) came in second place with a 14.13m toss and Justin Swavely (Rome, NY/RFA) finished third (13.91m). The 4000m distance medley saw another first place finish with a time of 10:43.37. The team of Tobias Jeralds (Chatham, NY/Chatham), Jonathan Simmons (Broadalbin, NY/Broadalbin-Perth), Timothy Jeralds (Denver, CO/Chatam) and Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda Fultonville) showed why they're the best in the conference. Andy Hadasz (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) came up huge in the 60m, winning in a time of 7.08. This is Hadasz's fourth consecutive meet where he has placed in the top three. Nolan Flynn (Bethel, CT/Bethel) and Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) rounded out the top five. Flynn ran a 7.22 followed by Kain's 7.24. Andrew Wieder (Clinton, NY/Clinton) lead the heptathlon after day one with a total score of 2,458. He scored a 7.57 in the 60m followed by the long jump (6.01m), shot put (10.82m) and high jump (1.82m). In the 400m, there were three top-five finishers. Tanner Warren (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy) in second (50.78), Hadasz in third (50.87) and Connor Dean (Taberg, Ny/Camden) fourth (51.04). Michael McNeil (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) was awarded the E8 Torchbearer award for the highest GPA. Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda Fultonville) won the 3000m with a time of 8:45.93 which was AARTFC qualifying and nearly five seconds faster than second place. The men's 4x400m team composed of Tanner Warren (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy), Connor Dean (Taberg, Ny/Camden), Jonathan Simmons (Broadalbin, NY/Broadalbin-Perth), and Andy Hadasz (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) took home first with a time of 3:24.52 which qualified for AARTFC. Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) took the top spot in the weight throw with a mark of 17.75m which came on his third attempt. Spencer Borghardt (Melville, NY/St.Anthony's) came in third with a top mark of 15.52m with Justin Swavely's (Rome, NY/RFA) 15.20m earning fourth. The Pioneers dominated the 200m taking home five of the top seven spots. Andy Hadasz (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) won the event with an AARTFC qualifying 22.19 with Tanner Warren (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy) finishing second with a 22.61. Utica went 5-6-7 with Nolan Flynn (Bethel, CT/Bethel) (23.00), Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) (23.10), and Connor Dean (Taberg, Ny/Camden) (23.18) all turning in fantastic outings. Utica did well in the 60m with Hadasz taking second clocking in at 7.09 and qualifying for AARTFC. Nolan Flynn (Bethel, CT/Bethel) (7.21) finished fourth with Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) (7.30) taking sixth with all earning some crucial points for Utica. Andrew Weider took second in the heptathlon with 4,261 total points. Jeffery Forkhamer (Parish, NY/Altmar-Parish) also did well earning 3,462 points to place sixth.
 
In The Polls: In the current Niagara Regional rankings that came out on February 26, the men's team holds the seventh spot with 127.75 points. This is the same spot they were ranked at last week, and the team remains the highest-ranked Empire 8 team. Some of the team's top point scorers include Andrew Hadasz (36.95), Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) (21.33), Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) (19.17) and Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda Fultonville) (13.51). 
 
Friday's Events: Andrew Weider will kick off the day for the Pioneers, running the 60m to begin his heptathlon at 11:00 am. The rest of his heptathlon events on Friday will be the long jump at 11:35 am, the shot put at 12:30 pm, and high jump at 1:30 pm. The next event will be the men's distance medley relay team of Anthony Leotta (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollows Hills West), Tristan Vargo (East Aurora, NY/Orchard Park), Tobias Jeralds (Chatham, NY/Chatham), and Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda Fultonville) at 3:30 pm. At 5 pm, Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) and Billie Mays III (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) will compete in the shot put, and the day will conclude with the 4x400m team of Tanner Warren (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy), Connor Dean (Taberg, Ny/Camden), Jonathan Simmons (Broadalbin, NY/Broadalbin-Perth), and Nolan Flynn (Bethel, CT/Bethel) at 6:50 pm.
 
Saturday's Events: Andrew Weider will start off the Pioneers again on Saturday, competing in the 60m hurdles of his heptathlon at 10 am. The rest of his heptathlon events are pole vault at 11:15 am, and the 1000m at 1:00 pm. Also being contested at 1:00 pm will be weight throw that features Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Justin Swavely (Rome, NY/RFA) and Spencer Borghardt (Melville, NY/St.Anthony's). Shortly thereafter at 1:30 pm will be the 200m, which Andrew Hadasz and Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) will be competing in. Melita will run the 3000m at 2:10 pm, and the day will conclude with the 4x200m team of Hadasz, Warren, Dean and Nolan Flynn (Bethel, CT/Bethel). 
 
Up Next: Those qualified will travel to Virginia Beach for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships starting on Friday, March 8 at 10 a.m. and continuing on Saturday, March 9 also at 10 a.m.