NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Albany men and women once again swept the America East Indoor Track and Field Championships. It was the men’s ninth-straight and women’s fourth in five years. The men, who continue to build upon their legacy their 11th overall title and ninth-straight, earned a total of 219 points, while the women totaled 198.50. Binghamton was the runner-up on both sides, with the men tallying 139.20 and the women 125.83.
Third-place Vermont (109.33), fourth-place New Hampshire (93.33) and fifth-place UMBC (85) finished out the top five, while UMass Lowell (80), Maine (38), Stony Brook (27) and Hartford (23) rounded out the field for the women.
On the men’s side, slots three through five went to Maine (116.40), New Hampshire (73) and UMBC (72.20). The final five men’s teams included UMass Lowell (71.5), Vermont (45.70), Stony Brook (36) and Hartford (7).
The Great Danes athleticism coupled with their depth helped lift the men to the 2014 victory. The team collected seven gold medals, seven silver and seven bronze enroute to a 219-point first-place finish. The high jump was one of the top events for the Great Danes as they took the top-three spots in Alexander Bowen (2.16m), Matthew Campbell (2.10m) and Kingsley Ogbonna (2.04m). The pole vault and long jump also featured a one-two punch from the men. Alfonso Scannapieco propelled himself 5.20m and Nathan Hiett 4.95m in the pole vault, while Youssef Benzamia set a new meet standard, leaping to a 7.47m mark. Scannepieco finished second in the long jump at 7.04m.
Binghamton tallied five gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the men’s runner-up performance. Jesse Garn and Ben Snodgrass stood out in the running events for the Bearcats. Garn placed first in a field of 18, clocking in with a 1000m time of 2:26.19, nearly two seconds better than the second-place finisher. Snodgrass was dominant in the 5000m distance event, as he paced himself keeping with the head of the pack for the entirety of the race until he and Maine’s Kelton Cullenberg broke away from the group in the final two laps. Snodgrass distanced himself in the final lap pulling well ahead of Cullenberg to secure the top seed by three seconds, finishing in 14:47.89. Rookie Jon Alkins also posted two impressive performances for the Bearcats, first and second place finishes in the 200m (21.58) and 60m dashes (6.96).
Silvia Del Fava collected a pair of victories in the 3000m (9:40.20) and 5000m (16:44.35), while teammates Michelle Anthony and Aiyanna James also collected some golden hardware in their respective events, the 60m hurdles (8.64) and long jump. The Bearcats looked to Keishorea Armstrong to lead them in the triple jump (11.90m) and the 200m dash (24.42), in which she finished first and third, respectively.
The women’s competition consisted of contributions from various student-athletes, resulting in a wide spread of medals throughout the membership. UMBC saw a repeat winner in Mercedes Jackson who defended her titles in the 60m and 200m dash events with marks of 7.42 and 24.00. Her 200m time barely missed the America East record of 23.87, which was set in 2011 by Shelby Walton. UMass Lowell had a slew of athletes with gold medal finishes, including Elisabeth Monty who sprinted to a 1:12.49 500m dash victory, just short of the league record (1:12.29, 2012).
Individual awards will be announced at a later date following a vote from the coaches.
Women’s Team Rankings
1. Albany 198
2. Binghamton 126
3. Vermont 108
4. New Hampshire 95
5. UMBC 85
6. UMass Lowell 80
7. Maine 38
8. Stony Brook 27
9. Hartford 23
Men’s Team Rankings
1. Albany 219
2. Binghamton 140.5
3. Maine 115.5
4. New Hampshire 73
5. UMBC 72.5
6. UMass Lowell 72
7. Vermont 44.5
8. Stony Brook 36
9. Hartford 7