Boston, Mass. – For ten straight years, the University at Albany men's program has been able to call themselves the America East Outdoor Track & Field Champions. This year, they will look to continue their conference dominance along side their women's program, which has claimed conference supremancy for six straight, and nine out of the last ten years
The Danes will be looking to defend their titles on their home turf, on the campus of the University at Albany.
Here is a preview of each team heading into the 2015 America East outdoor track & field championship.
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
ALBANY
- The Albany Great Danes are the six-time defending America East champions, winning last year’s event in Burlington, Vermont with a total amount of 195.50 points.
- The make up of the team’s roster is upperclassman laden, including three graduate students and 11 seniors. Among the track leaders to look out for are Kahila Taylor, and Grace Claxton. Within the America East, Taylor sits top five in the 100 and 200-meter races; Claxton sits at fourth in the 200 and has been successful throughout the season in the 400-meter. The senior also has the top time in the 400-meter hurdles; her time of 58.52 ranks 25th in the country.
- Junior Rochelle Reid has the top high jump mark in the America East, reaching a height of 5’ 8”.
- The Great Danes have only finished below third in one America East Championship, and that was 2002, their first season competing in the conference.
BINGHAMTON
- The Binghamton Bearcats placed third at the America East championship last season, scoring 131 points.
- ·The Bearcats have a strong dual-purpose performer in sophomore Keishorea Armstrong. She currently ranks first in the conference in the long jump (6.16 meters), and triple jump (12.73 meters), and also resides in the top five in both the 100-meter and 200 meter-dashes with times of 11.88 and 24.33 seconds.
- Armstrong’s long jump distance ranks 28th in the nation, and her triple jump sits with the top-25.
- Junior Kierra Arthur ranks fourth in the conference with a 14.50 time in the 100-meter hurdles.
- At last years championship, Christy Dimichele won the pole vaulting event (12’ 1.5”)
HARTFORD
- The Hawks placed ninth at last year’s conference championship, highlighted by performances from current senior Samantha Crisafulli in the 800-meter (2:15.02), and then freshman Savannah Brown in the triple jump (11.22 meters).
- ·Sophomore Lauren Bossi ranks 20th in the conference in the 100-meter hurdles (15.85), and freshman Shania Homiski sits 15th in the javelins toss at 110’ 4”.
- Hartford best placement at the America East Championship was seventh place.
MAINE
- Maine finished eighth at last years America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
- Sophomore Jaclyn Masters placed second in the pole vault last year, recording a height of 3.55 meters. Her highest mark outdoor this season was 3.72 meters.
- Ashley Donohoe placed third in the discus throw as a freshman at last year’s championship, and she has the longest toss among America East throwers this year 141’ 9”.
- Junior Robyn McFetters has the 28th ranked hammer throw this year throughout all of division I, tossing to a length of 198’ 6”.
- The Black Bears best finish at this championship came in 2010, when the Orono school placed second with 172 points.
UMBC
- The Retrievers finished fourth at the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship last season, totaling 129 team points.
- Senior Mercedes Jackson was voted the Most Outstanding Track Performer at the championship last year; she won the 100-meter, placed second in the 200-meter, was part of the runner-up 4x100 meter relay, and first place 4x400 relay.
- Returning performers who finished top five in their events at last years championship includes seniors Marie Yuille, Sarah Dailey, Paulette Fogle, Mary Katherine Kump, Alisha Beeman, and junior Nneoma Edokobi.
- Ten seniors will lead UMBC this season. Among them are Jackson, who has the top time thus far this season in the 100 and 200, and Sarah Daly, who sits in the top five in the America East in the 1,500-meter.
- Ozi Edokobi has been strong in the discus and shot put toss, and Alisha Beeman has consistently been atop the conference standings in the javelin. The senior also sits with the highest heptathlon point total this season at 4,556.
UMASS LOWELL
- In their first conference championship, UMass Lowell finished in sixth place, tallying 46 team points.
- Senior Taelour Murphy will look to continue her success in the sprinting events; she placed second in the 100-meter dash, and first in the 200-meter. She was the lone underclassman to win an event at the championship.
- Finishing first in the 200, Murphy set a new America east record with a time of 23.44.
- Other notable River Hawks include senior Elisabeth Monty, who ranks top five in the conference in the 800-meter with a time of 2:11.87. Senior Samantha Otten sits third in the javelin toss (135’ 4”), and freshman Kerstin Darsney has the third highest heptathlon score of 4,183.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
- The New Hampshire men placed fifth at last year’s America East Championship, scoring 107 points.
- Senior Anne Twombly will look to bring success for the Wildcats, having the top time in the America East in the 5,000-meter with a time of 16:46.14.
- Senior Chelsey Serrano took third at last year’s 5,000-meter run, and within that same race, New Hampshire had three freshmen finish in the top 20.
- As a freshman, Sarah Keiran finished in second place at last year’s championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
- Elinor Purrier will look to continue her success in the 1,500-meter, running it at a top time of 4:21.01, which resides just inside the top 50 nationally. In addition, the sophomore has the top time in the conference in the 3,000-meter steeplechase; her time of 10:12.40 sits 20th in the nation. Fellow sophomore Laura Rose Donegan sits 26th in the nation in the same event, coming in at 10:15.41.
STONY BROOK
- Stony Brook University finished sixth at the conference championship last year, totaling a tally of 46 points.
- Olivia Burne has graduated from Stony Brook, and as a result the Seawolves will have to work on replacing her win in the 1,500-meter run. The Seawolves have won that event for five consecutive years now.
- There are only three seniors on the Seawolves roster: Danielle Cornell, Kate Pouder, and Shannon Grogan.
- Sophomore Shi-Anne Humes has a top five time in the 200-meter dash among all other America East runners (24.96), and Christine Eisenberg (10:49.18) sits fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with teammate Elizabeth Caldwell (11:03.55) sits behind her in fifth.
VERMONT
- The University of Vermont placed second at last year’s America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship, scoring a total of 142.5 points. It is the highest placement for the Catamounts since 2001 when UVM won the championship.
- The Catamounts will have to make due this year with Yolanda Ngarambe, Nikie Oulette, Brittany St. Clair and Kirsten Weberg, each of whom won an event at last year’s event.
- On the list of major Catamount student-athlete to keep an eye out for is Grace Weisbecker; she ranks eighth in the conference in the 100-meter hurdles (14.68) and is a major competitor in the pole-vaulting competition.
MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
ALBANY
- The Great Danes are the ten-time reigning America East outdoor track & field champions, capturing last year’s title with 208 total points.
- Albany returns nine seniors, including 2013, and 2014 All-Conference mid-distance runner John DeLallo. Other seniors include Youness Benzaid, Christopher Buchanan, and Andrew Pirnie, all of who were 2013 All-Conference honorees.
- Last year, The Most Outstanding Rookie was pole-vaulter Nathan Hiett. The freshman won the field event with a final leap of 5.10 meters.
- Another key returner includes junior Taariq Jones; the sprinter was part of the winning 4x400 relay squad, and also won the individual 400-meter dash in 48.16.
- With the women’s squad of the Great Danes capturing the title last year in addition to the men, it marked the sixth consecutive year that Albany swept the outdoor championship.
- Among the competitors of the conference, the Great Danes hold top rankings in ten categories. Albany also has one player ranked in the top 50 nationally in their event; sophomore Matthew Campbell sits 35th in the high jump, registering a height of 6’ 11.75” on March 19th at the XIX Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational.
BINGHAMTON
- The Bearcats placed fourth at the 2014 America East outdoor track and field championship, reigning in 108 points.
- Binghamton brings with it a very veteran group of competitors, having a roster that consists of 14 seniors, and 2 graduate students.
- Underclassmen were a highlight of last year’s championship for the Bearcats. As a freshman, Jon Alkins came in second in the 200-meter dash, and his teammate Eric Holt took second in the 1,500-meter run. In addition, current junior, Ethan Hausamann came in third in the 5,000-meter run.
- Binghamton’s highest team finish in the championship is second place, most recently in 2012 at the Beckett Family Track & Field Complex.
- Jesse Garn is the largest threat for the Bearcats on the track; he has the sixth ranked time in the country in the 800-meter, pacing at 1:47.03 on April 17th at a meet a Larry Ellis College. His time ranks top in the America East in that particular event, and add in the conference fastest time in the 1,500-meter to boot at 3:43.72, there he stands at 40th in the nation.
HARTFORD
- The Hartford Hawks finished in ninth place at last year’s championship, tallying ten total points.
- The Hawks have not had an All-Conference performer since Andrew Chalmers and Anderson Emerole in 2011.
- Hartford has a young team with only four seniors listed on their roster as opposed to 11 freshmen.
- The Hawks will lean on sophomore Andrew Roschen in the javelin, where he ranks sixth in the conference (186’ 8”).
MAINE
- The Maine Black Bears finished in third place for the second consecutive year at last year’s outdoor championship, taking home 124 points.
- Last year’s All-Conference performers for the Black Bears include seniors Wilson Adams, Jake Leithiser, and Alexander Parenteau.
- Maine is looking to capture its first conference title since 1995.
- Leithiser is a main factor in the 800-meter, where he sits with the third fastest time in the conference at 1:49.34. Sophomore Levi Frye sits fifth in the conference in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:28.86), and Adams resides in the five spot as well in the hammer throw (177’ 8”).
- Black Bears can make some noise in the javelin; Alexander Parenteau (191’ 0”) and Aybars Gungor (190’ 7”) rank in the top five in the conference. The decathlon has been a strong suit for the Black Bears as well, having James Rutter with the best score in the conference of 6,138 points.
UMBC
- UMBC has finished runner-up two straight America East Outdoor Track & Field championships, last year totaling 165 points.
- The Retrievers are going to need to replace Dennison Long, back-to-back Most Outstanding Performer at the America East final event.
- Hassan Omar had two top ten finishes at last year’s event. The junior has the second ranked conference time in the 5,000-meter at 14:18.66, and top time in the 10,000-meter at 31:10.81.
- Senior Yao Adantor will look to score points for UMBC on the field in the shot put, an event that he won at this year’s indoor track & field championship.
- Junior Vincent Rentzsch has dominated the javelin thus far this season, having the nationally 16th ranked toss of 233’ 7”, registered at the Penn Relays.
UMASS LOWELL
- In their first America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship, the UMass Lowell River hawks took home seventh place.
- The lone All-Conference performer for UMass Lowell, Devin O’Neill, graduated.
- Senior Robert Allen will look to raise the River Hawks, seeing how he has two top five ranked times in the America East this season. He sits fourth in the 1,500-meter at 3:47.02, and sits atop the league in the 5,000-meter with a time of 14:17.37.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
- The Wildcats took home sixth place at the conference championship meet last year with 79 points.
- Senior John Prizzi has won the 3,000-meter steeplechase back-to-back championships.
- Wildcats are looking to capture their first America East championship since 1999.
- Wildcats closest attempt at winning the America East titles since 1999 came in in the stretch of 2005-2009, when they finished second place behind Albany for five straight years.
- The Wildcats have many names to key in on, including Prizzi, Drew Piazza, and Michael Shanahan. Piazza has the 25th fastest time in the country in the 800-meter race (1:48.40), Prizzi has the 37th nationally ranked time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:54.91), and Shanahan ranks atop the conference in the hammer throw (191’ 10”).
STONY BROOK
- At the America East Championship last season, the Seawolves finished in the eight spot with 20 total team points.
- Seawolves are looking for their first All-Conference competitor since 2012. Eric Speakman earned honors that season as a freshman.
- Stony Brook has four ranked in the top-five among their respective events within the conference. Senior Chris Hand has the fourth longest hammer toss (183’ 5”), senior Matthew Granata has the third fastest time in the 800-meter (1:50.53), senior Eric Speakman ranks second in the 1,500-meter (3:44.64), and senior Denis Daniel sits in fourth in the 5,000-meter (14:23.56).
VERMONT
- The Catamounts finished right in the middle of the pack at the 2014 America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Vermont came in fifth with 87 points.
- Vermont will look at Mallory Duncan to help carry their team; he has won the 400-meter hurdles back-to-back seasons.
- The Catamounts highest finish since competing in the America East Outdoor Track & Field is sixth place.
- Indoor track & field Elite 18 award and coaches award winner Martin Kallur has the fastest time in the conference in the 110-meter hurdles (14.70), and sophomore Ian Weider sits atop the AE in the long jump (23’ 3.25”).