UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's track and field team will be hosting the Utica Pioneer Spring Invitational on Friday, April 13 beginning at 9:30am on Laura M. Casamento Field.
 
Follow Along: Live stats will be posted here, via LeoneTiming.
 
Event Schedule: Throwing events will begin at 9:30am at the Utica University Throwing & Jumping Facility, beginning with javelin and ending with discus. Jumping events are slated to be contested beginning at 10am, with track events slated to begin at 10:30am with the 10,000m run. 
 
Teams Attending: Cortland, Hamilton, Cobleskill, SUNY ESF, Colgate, MVCC, Potsdam and Hartwick will all be attending this weekend's event.
 
In the Polls: The team has locked in a sixth place ranking in the Niagara Region in the second week of the USTFCCCA Rankings. 
 
Athletes of the Week: Joshua Talbot (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda Fultonville) took home Empire 8 Men's Outdoor Track and Field weekly awards, as announced by the league on Monday. Talbot set a new school record in the hammer throw last weekend with a 54.64m toss. The previous record was set last season at a mark of 54.52m. Talbot's mark in the event is good enough to rank him inside the top 15 nationally in the event. Melita set a new school record in the 3000m steeplechase. Clocking in with a time of 9:08.30, Melita broke the record of 9:15.03 that he set last season by seven seconds. That time now ranks Melita eighth nationally in the event.
 
Top-10 Breakdown: Several Pioneers marked their names on top-10 lists in their respective events last time out. The team of Chris Ganley (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush), Nolan Flynn (Bethel, CT/Bethel), Ethan Kain (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), and Andy Hadasz (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) ran their way to second on the All-time list in the 4x100m relay with a time of 42.01. In the long jump, Ellis Urgent (Cornwall, NY/Cornwall Central) climbed into fifth place with a 6.80m leap, while Kedron Golden (Atlanta, GA/Community Christian) slid into 10th place on the leaderboard with a 6.65m jump. In the hammer throw, Blake Gannon (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) etched his name into sixth place with a 47.77m toss. In the 3000m steeplechase, Tobias Jeralds (Canaan, NY/Chatham Central) ran his way into seventh place all-time, clocking in at 9:53.97. Finally, Cade Tavares (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) locked up 10th place all-time with a 16.06 finish in the 110m hurdles. 
 
Up Next: On Friday April 18, the Pioneers will be heading to Cortland to participate in the Cortland Classic, which will begin at 2 pm.