Only two months into the Track and Field season and coming right out the gate the team shows no signs of staying on pace. As a matter of fact, it’s speeding up, with the last two months of meets having several record breakers. The men’s team placed second in both meets in January at Ithaca and Nazareth, along with the women placing third and seventh in the same meets.
The team had an invitational at Ithaca on Feb. 2, with one of the highlights being the men’s 4×200, breaking the ten-year long school record. The relay consisted of Evan Jensen, Zion Cheatham, Harrison Gavalas, and Josh Jeffes, finishing at 1:27.37, a little over a second faster than the tenured record.
Looking back to a meet the team had over break, also in Ithaca, Isaiah Brunache, who was ranked 17 in Division III national ranking, was one of the highlights of the event with two wins at the meet with 17.59 meters in the weight throw, and 15.67 meters in the shot put.
The meet the team had at Nazareth College on Jan. 25 was also a record setter, Brunache again, a highlight of these meets, as he broke his previous school record of the shot-put putting his new record at 17.04 meters, which bumped his division ranking to fourth.
Amarian Hughes leaped his way to a victory as well as another broken school record. Hughes recorded a 15.21-meter triple jump, breaking a school record that was held since 2019 by Micah Assibey-Bonsu. This meet also ranked Hughes second in Division III ranking.
Over in the women’s corner, this past meet at the beginning of February saw several athletes make All Atlantic Region qualifying marks.
Jennifer Ndukwu placed fourth in the weight throw with a 16.11-meter throw. Along with Hannah McMasters making a 12.21-meter throw getting her seventh place.
Autumn Pittman got herself two AARTFC qualifiers with the 200-meter dash at 26.22 to get her fourth, and the 60-meter dash at 7.79 that got her in third.
Even freshmen runners like Emily Pierro helped lay the groundwork for an event filled February with a third-place finish in the 4×200 race with a 1:50.18 time.
“I’m [PA17] really excited to see how it all unfolds…I’m so lucky to train alongside girls that inspire and motivate me to reach my potential,” Pierro said. Looking ahead to the coming weeks and meets things should get interesting. The team will have their next meet at Staten Island for the Fast Track Invitational, from there another meet at Utica, then moving on to Boston and Cornell.