UTICA, NY - The Utica University track and field team returned home this weekend, welcoming a bevy of other programs for the team's annual Blue and Orange Invite. Down at the Hutton Dome, the Pioneers managed to rack up many milestones, headlined by school records in both 4x200m relays, along with a new program best in the men's 5000m courtesy of Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville).
 
School Records
Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) - 5k - 1st - 15:04.22
Women's 4x200m (Suppa, McClendon, Petersen, Williams) - 3rd - 1:45.01
Men's 4x200m (Flynn, D'Angelo, Spencer, Warren) - 2nd - 1:30.14
Aaron Johnson (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley) - Pole Vault - 5th - 4.63
 
All-Time Program Top 10's
#2 Killian Bauer (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherill) - 5k - 2nd - 15:25.99
#2 Spencer Borghardt (Smithtown, NY/St.Anthony's) - Weight Throw - 17.69m
#2 Joshua Talbot (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) - Weight Throw - 17.69m
#4 Jade Bailey (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville) - High Jump - 1st (Pent HJ) - 1.57m
#5 Women's DMR (Manna, Messler, Simmons, Townsend) - 2nd - 12:56.65
#10 Women's 4x400m (McClendon, Messler, Jensen, Williams) - 4:07.84
 
First Place Finishers
Jade Bailey (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville) - Women's Pentathlon High Jump - 1.57
Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) - Men's 5000m - 15:04.22
Allie Cary (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) - Women's Shot Put - 13.10

AARTFC Qualifiers
Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) - 5k - 1st - 15:04.22
Women's DMR (Manna, Messler, Simmons, Townsend) - 2nd - 12:56.65
Stefania Grimaldi (Poland, NY/Poland Central) - Pentathlon - 4th - 2725
Women's 4x200m (Suppa, McClendon, Petersen, Williams) - 3rd - 1:45.01
Men's 4x200m (Flynn, D'Angelo, Spencer, Warren) - 2nd - 1:30.14
Women's 4x400m (McClendon, Messler, Jensen, Williams) - 4:07.84
 
Friday
The first day of this weekend's invitational primarily featured the Women's Pentathlon (60m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, Long Jump, 800m) and the first few events of the Men's Heptathlon (60m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump), along with a quartet of long-distance races.
 
In the Pentathlon, Stefania Grimaldi (Poland, NY/Poland Central) took home fourth place, also qualifying for the AARTFC Indoor Championships with a final score of 2,725 points. The junior athlete placed well in all five events, grabbing third in the High Jump (1.45), fifth in the 60m Hurdles (9.97) and Shot Put (7.65), sixth in the Long Jump (4.87), and  seventh in the 800m (2:50.26) amongst a field of 11 other competitors.
 
Local freshman Jade Bailey (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville) also took part in the Pent', playing a starring role in the High Jump as she logged the program's fourth best High Jump of all time with a 1.57. That height also ranked first among all Pentathlon participants by a wide margin, with the second place jumper reaching just 1.48. She also managed to grab fifth in the Pentathlon Long Jump, leaping 4.91.
 
In the men's 5000m, Bennett Melita (Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) and rookie phenom Killian Bauer (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherill) stole the show, placing first and second, both in the race, and among the Pioneer record-holders, with times of 15:04.22 and 15:25.99, respectively. Melita's mark was also good enough to see him qualify for the AARTFC Indoor Championships.
 
To cap off the evening, the Women's Distance Medley Relay team of Catherine Manna (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Lilly Messler (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville), Lacey Simmons (Vernon Center, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill), and Marlo Townsend (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) also logged a top-10 program finish along with an AARTFC qualification thanks to their second-place finish of 12:56.65.
 
Saturday
 
Track Events
 
Saturday got off to a super start for the Pioneers, with BOTH 4x200m squads taking home program records. To lead off, the quartet of Laura Suppa (Canastota, NY/Canastota), Arianna McClendon (Rome, NY/New York Mills), Amelia Petersen (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville), and Shiann Williams (Bronx, NY/Hydel) grabbed an all-time top mark of 1:45.01, also qualifying for the AARTFC in the process. Just a few minutes later, the men's 4x200m squad of Nolan Flynn (Bethel, CT/Bethel), Frank D'Angelo (), Wayne Spencer (Rochester, NY/Padilla (Franklin Campus)), Tanner Warren (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy), stepped up to the challenge, finding their own program record with a 1:36.56, also good enough for an AARTFC berth.
 
Later on, Suppa continued her stretch of spectacular performances with another top time in the 60m Hurdles. The superstar transfer qualified for finals with a time of 8.92, grabbing second place in the prelims with only Geneseo runner Jillian Ambler besting her. Ambler and Suppa continued their seismic showdown in the finals of the event, with Ambler taking the victory, defeating Suppa with an 8.63, while the Utican achieved an 8.84. The 60m Hurdles will be a spectacle come E8 season, thanks to the two top performers.
 
Following the 60m Hurdles, Shiann Williams (Bronx, NY/Hydel) logged a solid time in the 60m, finishing seventh in the prelims with a time of 8.06, good enough to qualify for the finals amongst a field of 60 participants. In the climactic race, Williams was even faster, grabbing a fourth-place finish with an 8.02.
 
Following the 60m prelims, Forest Martin (Poland, NY/Poland Central) took on the mile, racing a time of 4:26.63 to finish in 11th place out of 45 competitors.
 
Olivia Jensen (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) took second place in the open division of the Women's 400m, running a 1:05.08 to cement the stellar finish.
 
Anthony Leotta (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West) took the track a few events later, running to a ninth-place finish with a time of 2:00.67, while Timothy Jeralds (Canaan, NY/Chatham Central) wasn't far behind, posting a 2:03.56.
 
Warren kept up his stellar pace from the night before, following up Leotta with a fourth-place finish in the 200m Invite. The Pioneer speedster logged an AARTFC-qualifying time of 22.29.
 
 
Field Events
 
In the field events, reigning Empire 8 Outdoor Champion Louis Pinto (Clinton, NY/Clinton) kept up his stellar form, with the now-junior leaping a high of 1.88, clearing that bar on his second attempt to place fifth amongst the field of 14. Sophomore Kaiden McCaskill (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) wasn't far behind, though, as he cleared the 1.88 in his third attempt, achieving seventh place.
 
Hannah Allison (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) also kept up her form in the Women's High Jump, leaping 1.52 on her first attempt of the progression to rank fifth place.
 
In the open division of the Women's Pole Vault, the Pioneers saw two athletes finish inside the top six. Freshman Genna McCallum (Mora, MN/Indian River) added to the array of stellar Pioneer first years, taking third place with a vault of 2.91m. Fellow freshman Angelina Osilovskiy (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) was also great in the event, achieving sixth after a top jump of 2.76.
 
In the Men's Pole Vault, the trend continued, with freshman vaulter Aaron Johnson (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley) breaking his own school record yet again with a 4.63 jump. He would place fifth beyond a quartet of Roberts Wesleyan vaulters.
 
In the Women's Weight Throw, the Pioneers saw a pair of top ten finishers, with sophomore Allie Cary (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) placing fifth due to a 14.72m toss, and junior Hailey Hrouda (Wappingers Falls, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) grabbing eighth off the back of a 14.46m chuck. Cary would carry her momentum into the next event, too, taking first place in the Women's Shot Put after a 13.10m toss on her very first attempt.
 
The men also showed out in the Weight Throw, with the trio of Spencer Borghardt (Smithtown, NY/St.Anthony's), Joshua Talbot (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), and Blake Gannon (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) all placing within the top 10. Borghardt and Talbot had an epic battle in the event, with Borghardt tossing 17.69 in his first attempt, and Talbot responding immediately after with a 17.69 of his own. Those two marks ranked #2 in program history. They would both place third. Gannon also had a great afternoon in his own right, tossing 16.20 to place eighth.
 
In the Men's Shot Put, freshman Logan Hewitt (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy) would grab seventh place, launching a throw of 14.05 on his fifth attempt.
 
The Utica University track and field team will be right back at the Hutton Dome next weekend, this time for just a single day as they host the Pioneer Fast Trax Invitational next Saturday, February 14th, starting at 2:00 PM. The team is also a few weekends out from the Empire 8 Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be hosted by Nazareth on February 27th and 28th.