The University at Albany swept the week two awards. Gered Burns (Altamont, N.Y./Guilderland) and Patty Diedrich (Waverly, N.Y./Waverly) have been named the Men’s and Women’s Track Performers of the Week, respectively, while Eric Opuana (Kaduna, Nigeria/Army Day Secondary School) and Joy Williams (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) have been named Men’s and Women’s Field Performers of the Week, respectively. The awards were announced Tuesday (April 5).
Burns placed third in the 1,500-meter run at the University of South Florida Invitational with a time of 3:57.92. He was just .04 seconds behind the reigning 800-meter indoor national champion, Kevin Hicks of Florida A&M. Burns also ran the anchor leg of the men’s 4x400-meter relay, posting a personal best split of 48.1 seconds. The relay team finished first, qualifying for the IC4A Championships with a season-best time of 3:15.97.
Diedrich qualified for the ECAC Championships, finishing fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 14.20 at the University of South Florida Invitational.
Opuana finished first in the hammer throw at the University of South Florida Invitational held on April 2 and 3 in Tampa. Opuana, who qualified for the IC4A Championships last week at Army’s Dick Shea Open, posted a distance of 178'10 at the USF meet.
Williams qualified for the ECAC Championships, tying her school record to finish fourth in the hammer throw at the University of South Florida Invitational. Williams posted a distance of 45'3.5 in the event.