NEW YORK, N.Y. – The 2015 America East Indoor Track & Field Championship began Friday afternoon at The Armory in New York, N.Y. The University at Albany came into this year with both the men and women looking to defend their respective titles; the females attempting for the three-peat, and the males looking to make it 10 years of conference domination.
The championship began with the first event of the women’s pentathlon, the 60-meter hurdles. Maine’s Grace MacLean won the event with a time of 8.84 seconds. Binghamton senior Danielle Olusoga placed second, finishing at a dead even 9.00.
The second pentathlon event was the high jump, an event that was eventually won by UMBC senior Alisha Beeman. Her and MacLean battled until eventually the Retrievers out leapt the Black Bear at the 1.7-meter mark.
In the middle portion of the pentathlon, Vermont’s Sara Roderick bested the competition with an 11.42-meter throw in the shot put. Beeman came in second, tossing it 11.21-meters, and Mary Adeyeye took third with a score of 10.99 meters.
The long jump portion of the five-part battle once again fell to Maine’s MacLean. She earned first place with a leap of 5.29 meters, edging out second place jumper, Olusoga (5.16m).
In the final event of the Pentathlon, Vermont’s Roderick just beat out Hartford’s Lauren Bossi in the 800-meter. Roderick won in a time of 2:26.14, just four-hundredths of a second ahead of Bossi’s 2:26.18.
After the points from the five events were totaled, Daniella Olusoga of Binghamton was sitting atop the pedestal. Quietly putting together a very consistent pentathlon, the Bearcat senior totaled 3,512 points, beating out UVM senior Roderrick who finished with 3471 points.
Here are the final point totals for the women’s pentathlon:
1. Daniella Olusoga, Binghamton: 3,512
2. Sara Roderick, Vermont: 3,471
3. Grace MacLean, Maine: 3,416
4. Alisha Beeman, UMBC: 3,364
5. Virginia Lavallee. New Hampshire: 3,343
6. Ellen Bridgman, Vermont: 3,187
7. Paige Vadnais, Albany: 3,148
8. Mary Adeyeye, Albany: 3,094
9. Emma Checovich, New Hampshire: 3,080
10. Lauren Bossi, Hartford: 3,018
11. Taylor Ordway, New Hampshire: 2,884
12. Maggie Fuller, Hartford: 2,834
13. Megan Deane, UMass Lowell: 2,415
In the first event of the men’s heptathlon, Maine senior James Rutter claimed first place in the men’s 60-meter dash. The Black Bear finished in 7.25 seconds, five-hundredths of a second ahead of Albany’s Stefan Buechele.
In the second event of the men’s heptathlon, Matthew York bested the America East competition in the long jump. The Black Bear representative left to a distance of 6.52 meters in his first jump and held on. Mickey Krug came up just short for Vermont, having his feet touch the sand at 6.45 meters.
UMBC junior Vincent Rentzsch notched first place in the third portion of the heptathlon. Rentzcsh recorded a shot put throw of 13.22 meters, nearly five-tenths of a meter ahead of James Rutter of Maine.
The fourth, and final portion of the men’s heptathlon was the high jump. Ed Simon of Vermont casted a shadow over the competition jumping over the 1.96 meter measure. Matthew York of Maine finished second, jumping 1.87 meters.
Here are the men’s heptathlon scores through four events:
1. James Rutter, Maine: 2,758
2. Joe Miceli, Binghamton: 2,650
3. Ed Simon, Vermont: 2,621
4. Vincent Rentzsch, UMBC: 2,606
5. Matthew York, Maine: 2,599
6. Phillip Blanda, Albany: 2,598
7. Daniel Johnson, New Hampshire: 2,532
8. Mickey Krug, Vermont: 2,501
9. Joseph Slattery, Maine: 2,454
10. Jacob McKinnon, UMass Lowell: 2,362
11. Stefan Buechele, Albany: 2,359
12. Shawn Case, New Hampshire: 2,297
The premiere men’s preliminary races came by way of the 60-meter hurdles. New Hampshire’s D’Mahl McFadden won the prelim in 8.22 seconds, followed by this the event’s conference record holder Martin Kallur of Vermont who finished at 8.41.
UMBC took home first place in the 60-meter dash with junior Daryian Miles taking the prelim in a time of 6.93. Albany had three runners place between fourth and sixth: Jaymen Teemer (7.01), Winston McCormack Jr. (7.01) and Robert Harris III (7.02).
In the first scoring event of the championship, New Hampshire sophomore Michael Shanahan won the weight-throw, registering a throw of 19.01 meters. America East’s record holder this season, Albany’s Jonathan Eustache, finished in second, coming up short eight-hundredths of a meter (18.93m).
In the men’s 400-meter dash prelims, the University at Albany will hold the top two times entering tomorrow’s final. Youssef Benzamia finished first in his heat finishing in 50.35, and teammate Taariq Jones will be joining, registering the fastest time at 49.26.
The Binghamton Bearcats saw their junior edge out UMass Lowell’s freshman Marcus Duncan, taking the top spot in the 500-meter preliminary. Bajulaiye finished in 1:04.49, and Duncan was close behind at 1:04.60.
Hassan Omar of UMBC set a new season-best time this year in the 5,000-meter seeded race. The Retriever junior scored ten points for his team, edging out the competition with a time of 14:29.20. Omar’s time is an over three-second improvement compared to his previous season best of 12:37.79.
The men’s distance relay saw the New Hampshire Wildcats cross the finish line first. The quarter of Zachary Chabot, Thomas Harter, Joseph Boles, and Jeffery Moretti out ran the competition finishing in 9:49.78. Albany’s team of John DeLallo, Jason Tomlinson, Youness Benzaid, and Christopher Buchanan came in second with the clock stopping for them at 9:50.58.
In the long jump, Vermont’s Martin Kallur won the event with a final score of 6.91 meters, just one centimeter ahead of teammate Ian Weider. Albany had four consecutive placers in spots five through eight: Benzamia (6.73m), Mande Semon (6.70m), Jordan Crump-King (6.64), and Colonel Fakarode (6.55).
Michelle Anthony paced the quick 60-meter hurdles preliminaries on the women’s side. The Albany senior finished in 8.48 seconds, and she’ll be alongside teammate Niamini Morrison who had the third fastest prelims time at 8.83.
Grace Claxton of Albany paced the 400-meter prelims, sitting atop the poll with a time of 56.80. Her teammate, freshman Halie Synder took second in the heat at 56.88, and UMBC Retrievers Funmi Daramola (57.04) and Mercedes Tillman (57.10) took the third and fourth spots.
In the women’s pole vault, Grace Weisbecker lifted up UVM with the win, reaching a height of 3.6 meters. Christy DiMichele of Binghamton took second, and her teammate, sophomore Sarah Haley, came in third.
In the 5,000-meter race, New Hampshire’s Chelsey Serrano came in first place with a time of 17:07.52. Her time was nearly 12 seconds faster than second place finisher Elizabeth Caldwell of Stony Brook (17:19.96).
UMBC had two of the top three performers in the 500-meter dash preliminaries. Paulette Fogle finished with a time of 1:14.02, an improvement on her seedtime. Esseence Fredericks finished in third at 1:15.70 for the Retrievers, and sandwiched between the to Black and Gold runners was Kamilah Williams of Albany with a time of 1:14.61.
The long jump title fell in the hands of Kaylyn Gordon of Stony Brook; the freshman leapt a distance of 5.92 meters. The Great Danes had two competitors wrap up the top three: Aiyanna James (5.73m) and Alexandra Baum (5.72). Binghamton senior Alexis Murray was not far behind in fourth at 5.70 meters
Much like the season leading up the championship, Albany senior Briana Cherry-Bronson dominated in the weight-throwing event. Cherry-Bronson had a winning hurl of 18.37 meters, while sophomore teammate Chinwe Igwe earned second with a throw of 17.43 meters.
The 200-meter dash prelim was won by Mercedes Jackson of UMBC with a time of 24.17 seconds. Binghamton’s Keishorea Armstrong was a close second coming out in 24.34, and this season’s event record holder took third in the qualifier at 24.84 seconds.
In the final event of the opening day of the 2015 America East Indoor Track & Field Championship, the UMBC Retrievers won the women’s distance medley in 11:40.01. Stony Brook was close on their heels, coming in second at a click of 11:41.73.
After the first day of the 2015 America East Indoor Track & Field Championship, defending champions Albany hold the lead. On the men’s side, New Hampshire sits in second, with Vermont rallying out the top three. The women are led by the Great Danes, with the Bearcats in second and the Wildcats currently in the bronze spot.
Men’s Scores Through Five Events Scores
1. Albany: 44
2. New Hampshire: 40.33
3. Vermont: 29
4. Binghamton: 23.33
5. UMBC: 20
6. Stony Brook: 18
7. Hartford: 0
7. Maine: 0
7. UMass Lowell: 0
Women’s Scores Through Six Events Scored
1. Albany: 57
2. Binghamton: 38
3. New Hampshire: 30
3. Vermont: 30
5. Stony Brook: 29
6. UMBC: 29
7. Maine: 14
8. UMass Lowell: 6
9. Hartford: 1