UTICA, NY - The Utica University women'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 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 women's track and field team finished second at the Empire 8 Championships with 126 points. The Pioneers earned 19 points in the 400m, 18 points in the shot put, 10 in the long jump, four in the distance medley and four in the pentathlon. Multiple athletes earned top finishes including Jane Fahy (Oriskany, NY/MVCC/Oriskany), who continued her dominance in the shot put. Fahy was crowned the Empire 8 Champion with a 14.20m throw. The All-American not only broke her own record, but also the Indoor Empire 8 Championships Meet record while coming in at No. 6 nationally with the mark. Allie Cary (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) had one of her best performances as she placed second in the shot put with a personal best throw of 12.91m. Riley King (Oswego, NY/Oswego) also placed top-10 with a mark of 10.73m. Nora Devitt (Beverly, MA/Beverly) took first in the long jump as she hasn't seemed to take her foot off the gas as of late, placing first in seven consecutive meets dating back to Dec. 2. On Friday, Devitt had a 5.56m leap on her third attempt which ranks second all-time in Utica track & field history. Nyasia Marsh (Westmoreland, NY/Westmoreland) placed top-10 in the long jump with a distance of 5.02m. In the 400m, the Pioneers finished first and second with freshman sensation Arianna McClendon (/New York Mills) taking first and 2022-23 NCAA Indoor qualifier Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden) taking second. McClendon's Empire 8 winning time was her best 400m mark of the season at an astonishing 59.73. Mix came in close behind at 1:00.25. Utica also featured places six through eight with Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez (East Hartford, CT/East Hartford) placing sixth (1:02.63), Abrianna Wadley seventh, and Claudia Simione (Lebanon, NH/Lebanon) eighth (1:03.70). Utica's distance medley team of Gianna Welker (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany), Olivia Jensen (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook), Kamryn Williams (/New York Mills) and Noella Burlette (Manchester, CT/Manchester) placed fourth with a time of 14:31.98. Stefania Grimaldi (Poland, NY/Poland Central) turned in an excellent performance in the pentathlon, placing third out of 11 finishers with 2,815 points. She strung together a first place finish in the 60m hurdles (9.66) and a second place finish in the long jump (5.06). She also placed top-five in the shot put (8.77m) and 800m (2:42.62) as well as a sixth place finish in the high jump (1.36m). Nora Devitt (Beverly, MA/Beverly) shined earning Empire 8 Field Athlete of the Meet after winning both the long and triple jumps. Her best leap was 11.45m on her second attempt which was drastically ahead of second place's 11.09m. Alyssa Youngs (Constableville/West Canada Valley) and Nyasia Marsh (Westmoreland, NY/Westmoreland) both turned in a top mark of 10.53m and are both tied for 10th all-time. The women's 4x400m team of Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden), Janaiya Cruz-Bermudez (East Hartford, CT/East Hartford), Abriana Wadley (Utica, NY/Proctor), and Arianna Mclendon had an unbelievable time of 4:00.12 which was a school and meet record while qualifying for AARTFC. The time was so impressive that it was over 14 seconds faster than second place. Hannah Allison (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) took home first in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.57m, taking home the crown. Stefania Grimaldi (Poland, NY/Poland Central) finished the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.67 which is fifth all-time with Olivia Jensen (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) clocking in at 9.98 which is 10th all-time. Utica dominated the 200m going 2-4-5. Mix finished second with a time of 26.14 which qualified for AARTFC with McLendon (26.80) and Wadley (26.84) finishing fourth and fifth earning Utica some crucial points. Jade Dening (Remsen, NY/Remsen) grabbed fourth in the 800m clocking in at 2:23.03. The Pioneers did well in the weight throw taking home three of the top six spots. Riley King (Oswego, NY/Oswego) finished third with a top mark of 14.78m with Hailey Hrouda (Wappingers Falls, NY/Royce Ketcham) (14.52m) and Allie Cary (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) (13.82m) also churning out great performances. Hrouda's top toss was a massive personal record and is now ninth all-time and AARTFC qualified. 
 
In The Polls: In the current Niagara Regional rankings that came out on February 26, the women's team holds the seventh spot with 161.47 points. This is a one spot decrease from last week's rankings, and the team remains the highest-ranked Empire 8 team. Some of the team's top point scorers include Arianna McClendon (/New York Mills) (37.02), Nora Devitt (Beverly, MA/Beverly) (31.81), Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden) (30.66), Abrianna Wadley (28.19) and Jane Fahy (Oriskany, NY/MVCC/Oriskany) (24.03).
 
Friday's Events: Stefania Grimaldi (Poland, NY/Poland Central) will kick things off for the Pioneers as she will start her pentathlon with the 60m hurdles at 11:15 am. The remainder of her pentathlon events will be high jump at 11:50 am, shot put at 2 pm, long jump at 3 pm, and the 800m at 4 pm.  Jane Fahy (Oriskany, NY/MVCC/Oriskany) and Allie Cary (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) will then compete in the shot put at 3 p.m. Next, Nora Devitt (Beverly, MA/Beverly) will compete in long jump at 5 p.m., and the day will conclude with the school record-holding 4x400m team of Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden), Janiya Cruz-Bermudez, Abrianna Wadley and Arianna McClendon (/New York Mills) at 6:25 p.m. 
 
Saturday's Events: On Saturday, Riley King (Oswego, NY/Oswego) and Hailey Hrouda (Wappingers Falls, NY/Royce Ketcham) will start the day off in weight throw at 10:30 a.m. High jump will also be contested at 10:30 a.m. and will feature Hannah Allison (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) and Wadley. Next up will be the first event on the track. Mix and McClendon will take on the 400m at noon. An hour later at 1 p.m. Alyssa Youngs (Constableville/West Canada Valley) and Devitt will compete in the triple jump. The day will then conclude at 2:45 p.m. with the 4x200m team of Mix, Cruz-Bermudez, Wadley and McClendon. 
 
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.