ROCHESTER, NY - The Empire 8 champion Utica University men's outdoor track & field team landed 35 All-Empire 8 selections across three major awards, 22 events and one sportsman award winner, as announced by the league on Tuesday. Awards were highlighted by the E8 Field Athlete of the Year, All-American Justin Swavely (Rome, NY/RFA), Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda Fultonville), and Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year led by Head Coach James Lemieux. 
 
All-American Justin Swavely (Rome, NY/RFA) was named the Empire 8 Field Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season. He also captured first team honors in the javelin with his winning mark of 58.77m as well as third team honors in the shot put with a distance of 13.98m. He went on to capture All-American status for the first time in his career with his seventh place finish at the NCAA DIII Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Prior to that, he earned USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region honors. Swavely also set the program and Empire 8 javelin record this year with a mark of 63.59m. Along with his second career E8 Field Athlete of the Year honor, it's Swavely's third consecutive first team javelin honor and his first All-E8 honor in the shot put. 
 
Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda Fultonville) was named the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, becoming the seventh Pioneers to earn outdoor E8 Rookie of the Year honors as well as the second consecutive to do so. Melita also picked up All-Empire 8 Second Team honors in the 3000m steeplechase (9:27.45) and the 5000m (15:25.05), as well as third team honors in the 10,000m (34:24.87). The freshman set a pair of program records this outdoor season, one in the 3000m steeplechase (9:15.03) and the other coming in the 5k (15:06.25). Melita previously earned USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region honors in the 3000m steeplechase. 
 
James Lemieux and staff were honored with the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year award. Under Lemieux, the Utica men's outdoor track & field team captured the Empire 8 title for the fourth time in program history and sent a pair of throwers to the NCAA Division III Championships. Both throwers, Swavely and Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College), captured All-American status while at nationals. Under his direction, five program records fell this season and a program record 35 all-league honorees were named. 
 
The 4x100 team of Nyles Rogers (Suffern, NY/Suffern), Andy Hadasz (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Connor Dean (Taberg, Ny/Camden), and Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) earned first team accolades after placing first at the Empire 8 Championships in. 42.38. It's the second straight year in which the Utica men's 4x100 team earned first team honors while Hadasz and Kain repeated on the team. 
 
Andy Hadasz (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) also earned a pair of individual first team honors in the 100m (10.78) and the 200m (22.04). Hadasz repeated as the Empire 8 100m and 200m champion to land on the first team yet again. He also set the program 200m record this outdoor season with a mark of 21.36 and earned USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region honors in both the 100m and 200m. 
 
Two-time outdoor All-American Hunter Logan (Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College) set a shot put meet record at the Empire 8 Championships with a mark of 16.39m for his third consecutive first team honor. He notched All-Empire 8 honors in discus as well, landing on the second team with a mark of 42.34m. Logan went on to capture All-American honors for the second time in his career this year at the NCAA DIII Championships thanks to his sixth place finish. He also earned USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region honors in shot put. 
 
Another USTFCCCA All-Niagara Region honoree, Kaiden McCaskill (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), earned first team high jump honors with his winning mark of 1.94m at the Empire 8 Championships. Along with his second team triple jump honor (12.94m), these are the first two All-Empire 8 outdoor accolades of his career. 
 
Utica's 4x800 team of Tristan Vargo (East Aurora, NY/Orchard Park), Evan Smith (Baldwinsville, NY/Baker), Forest Martin (Poland, NY/Poland Central) and Eddy Corporan (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C Ketcham) placed second at the Empire 8 Championships in 8:02.84 to land on the second team. It's the second time that a Utica 4x800 team earned all-league honors and the first time since 2019.  
 
The Pioneers had a pair of first time outdoor recipients as Spencer Borghardt's (Melville, NY/St.Anthony's) second place finish in the hammer throw (52.40m) at the E8 Championships granted him second team honors while Eddy Corporan (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C Ketcham) joined him on the second team in the 800m (1:57.71). 
 
Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) notched second team honors in the 100m (11.18) for the second time in his career while also earning second team honors in the 200m (22.79) for the first time.  
 
For the second straight year, Utica's 4x400 team earned all-conference accolades, this time on the second team, as Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Evan Smith (Baldwinsville, NY/Baker), Tristan Vargo (East Aurora, NY/Orchard Park) and Connor Dean (Taberg, Ny/Camden) got the baton around in 3:26.03 at the E8 Championships. 
 
Billie Mays III (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) earned second team honors in the shot put as well with his second place finish at the Empire 8 Championships with a distance of 14.14m. It's his second career outdoor all-league honor. 
 
A trio of Pioneers rounded out All-E8 honors on the third team. Tobias Jeralds (Chatham, NY/Chatham) earned his first career All-Empire 8 outdoor honor after earning third team javelin accolades (45.73m). Antwan Kelly (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) earned his third career All-Empire 8 outdoor honor after landing on the third team in the discus (40.03m). Louis Pinto (Clinton, NY/Clinton) (high jump - 1.89m) was also a first time outdoor all-league recipient. 
 
Justin Valentin (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) was named Utica's recipient of the Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year honor. One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2024 Empire 8 Men's Outdoor Track & Field Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.