CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- In the final week of regular season competition before the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships, University at Albany’s Joe Greene (Rochester, N.Y./Edison Tech), Laura Cummings (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore), Wilfredo de Jesus Elias (Arroyo, P.R./Natividad Rodriguez Gonzalez) and Ashley Lewis (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) each qualified for post-season competition, resulting in a Great Dane-sweep of the Performer of the Week awards.
Greene, this week’s male Track Performer of the Week, met an NCAA East Regional Championship qualifying standard and was part of the sprint medley relay team that won an IC4A title at Penn Relays. Greene placed second among 49 competitors in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in a regional qualifying time of 50.53 seconds. The senior then ran the 400-meter leg in a split time of 46.8 on the SMR team which beat out all other IC4A competitors and, because the event is not run at the Championship event, was named IC4A Champion.
Cummings, the female Track Performer of the Week, met the NCAA East Regional standard at the Penn Relays in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the first time this season, finishing fifth in 10:40.64. Cummings also ran the anchor leg for the 4x800-meter relay team which posted an ECAC standard, finishing eighth among 29 schools in the college race with a final time of 8:59.74.
De Jesus Elias, the male Field Performer of the Week, broke the school record in the hammer throw by over a foot and set a personal record by almost seven feet at the Penn Relays. He recorded a mark of 192-feet, 8-inches to finish third among 25 competitors in the college division, bettering the old program standard of 191-5 set in 2004.
Lewis, the female Field Performer of the Week, broke a school record, recorded an ECAC qualifying mark and won two events while placing second in another at the Capital District Classic held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The junior broke the school record and qualified for the ECAC meet in the javelin with a first-place throw of 136-feet, 6-inches. She also set a personal record by almost 18 feet to become the first Great Dane on the women’s team to ever reach the qualifying standard for the ECAC meet in the event. In addition, she placed second in the discus throw with a toss that was marked at 128-0 and won the long jump with a leap of 16-11.25.
Albany- The Great Danes saw four school records break and seven athletes qualify for the NCAA East Regional Championship this weekend as the men’s and women’s squads sent members to the Penn Relays and the Capital District Classic at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Joe Greene continued his impressive senior campaign, earning second in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in a regional-qualifying time of 50.53. Greene was part of the sprint medley relay team that was crowned IC4A Champion at the Penn Relays and finished third overall, but beat out all other IC4A squads with a time of 3:18.89. Wilfredo de Jesus Elias broke the school’s record in the hammer throw by over a foot with his mark of 192-feet, enough to qualify him for east regional competition. The women followed suit as Laura Cummings met the NCAA East Regional Championship-qualifying standard in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, posting a time 10:40.64. Teammate Ashley Lewis, a junior, broke the school record in the javelin throw at the Capital District Classic, launching an ECAC-qualifying throw of 136-feet, 6-inches.
Albany's Story
Binghamton- The Bearcats had three athletes earn first-place finishes at the Cornell Big Red Track & Field Invitational this weekend, with freshman Eric VanAernam meeting the IC4A-qualifying standard in the men’s pole vault with his first-place jump of 15-9. Teammate Jese Fuca crossed first in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.68. For the women, Jasmine Hinson, a junior, earned first in the 400-meter run (56.34) and teammate Krystelle Patrice was third in the 100-meter dash (12.64).
Boston- The Terriers sent athletes to the Penn Relays and the Brown Springtime Invitational last week and saw several athletes qualify for post-season competition. Sophomore Dan Withrow earned second in the discus throw at Brown with an IC4A-qualifying distance of 47.91 meters. Joel Senick finished second at Brown’s 200-meter dash with a time of 22.17. For the women, Tahari James earned second in the triple jump at the Penn Relays with a mark of 13.18 meters, and went on to earn eighth in the long jump (5.94 meters). Erin Catarius won the 100-meter dash at Brown, clocking in at 12.59, and ran alongside James in the 4x100-meter relay.
Boston's Story
Hartford- The University of Hartford sent members to Philadelphia to compete in the Penn Relays and saw school records fall in the men’s 4x100-meter (43.45) and 4x400-meter (3:21.15) relays. On Saturday at the UMass Spring Invitational, Kaycee Martinez took first in the 400-meter hurdles for the third time this season, posting a time of 1:02.23. Freshman Kristalena Lamore broke the school record in the long jump (5.50m) and earned points in the 100-meter dash and the triple jump. Josh Hummel broke an 11-year-old record in the men’s 800-meter run, recording a time of 1:56.04 for a sixth-place finish.
Hartford's Story
Maine- The University of Maine men and women competed at the Penn Relays this weekend, where the women’s 4x400-meter relay team set a school record with an ECAC-qualifying time of 3:47.66. On the men's side, Riley Masters placed seventh out of 47 runners in the 5,000 meter run’s Olympic Development heat with an IC4A-qualifying time of 14:23.25. Teammate Miles Bartlett finished ninth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:21.25.
Maine's Story
UMBC- The Retriever men competed at the Penn Relays this weekend where the men’s distance medley relay Team broke the previous school record by over 14 seconds, finishing in 10:05.86. The 4x200-meter relay team earned a third-place finish out of eight teams, crossing in 1:25.06.
UMBC's Story
New Hampshire- The Wildcats traveled to the UMass Spring Meet on Saturday, where the men finished second in the nine-team field, and women were second of seven. Freshman Bill Godfrey led the men on the track, winning the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.37. Jeff Kaste, a senior, won the men’s hammer throw (56.32 meters), and went on to finish second in the shot put (15.88 meters). On the women’s side, sophomore Camille Quarles won the triple jump event, leaping 12.13 meters, and finished second in the long jump with a mark of 5.53 meters. Senior Sarah Hall earned a pair of second-place finishes, finishing the 100-meter dash in 12.39, and the 200-meter dash in 24.74 to break her school record.
New Hampshire's Story
Stony Brook- The Seawolves had three top-three finishes at the Yale Springtime Invitational on Sunday afternoon with the top finish coming from sophomore Holly Van Dalen. Van Dalen won the women’s 1,500-meter run, finishing 14 seconds ahead of her closest competitor with a time of 4:32.52. Tim Hodge, a junior, finished second in the men’s 1,500 meters posting a time of 3:55.15, less than three seconds behind the race leader. Daire Bermingham, a junior, crossed third in the 800 meters with a time of 1:54.95.
Stony Brook's Story
Vermont- The Catamounts competed at the UMass Spring Invitational alongside America East foes University of New Hampshire and University of Hartford. Jan Carlson won multiple events for the second straight week, earning first in the 100-meter dash (12.29) while running a leg of the first-place 4x100-meter relay team that qualified for the ECAC Championship with a time of 47.76. Doug Maisey led the Vermont men, winning the men’s 1,500-meter run in come-from-behind fashion with a time of 3:54.27.
Vermont's Story