BOSTON, Mass. – With the conclusion of the America East Championship just a couple weekends ago, schools within the conference are now prepping for the post season. Teams throughout the league will by participating in ECAC/IC4A and NCAA events looking to make their marks on the national stage. The Championships will be taking place May 15th through the 17th at Princeton University.
The Albany Great Danes, coming off their sweep of the 2015 America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships, will be packing the bus to Princeton. Over 15 men, and 25 women will be competing in the ECAC/IC4A championship, including many conference championship individual winners.
The Great Danes men’s squad holds the top performance in eight separate events within the conference, and women have some performers who rank within the top fifty nationally in their respective events. Grace Claxton ranks in the top fifty in both the 400-meter and 400-meter hurdles, and her teammate Schuyler Pruyn sits in the same zone in the mile run.
The Binghamton Bearcats have two men and seven women getting set to partake in the ECAC/IC4A meet. The men’s participants are both from the field; Brandon Bordeau in the shot put, and Peter Fagan in the pole vault. Both are among the league leaders in the America East this year.
On the women’s side, there are seven Bearcats who will be looking to make a mark. Among them is the sophomore standout Keishorea Armstrong, who ranks in the top fifty nationally in both the long jump and triple jump. The other Binghamton competitors will be Alexis Murray, Jackie Crunden, Sarah Haley, Christy DiMichele, Kiki Arthur, and Alexis Hatcher.
For the University of Maine, numerous Black Bears are eligible, including Robyn McFetters in the hammer toss; the junior ranks 33rd in the nation. Teammate Jaclyn Masters sits second in the conference in the pole vault, and sophomore Ashley Donohoe stands in eighth in the America East in the shot put.
For the men, the Maine Black Bears James Rutter has the eighth fastest time in the 100-meter, and junior Jake Leithiser has the third fastest time in the 800-meter time this year. On the field, Wilson Adams was one of the best in the America East in the hammer throw, and teammates Alexander Parenteau and Aybars Gungor performed well in the javelin all year long.
The UMBC Retrievers are travelling heavy to Princeton, carried by the weight of numerous champions. Yao Adantor, Hassan Omar and Vincent Rentzsch bring with them gold for the men. Rentzsch ranks 17th in the nation with his furthest javelin toss this year of 233’ 7”.
Mercedes Jackson and Tillman will look to sprint to first place finishes, while the Edokobi sisters of Nneoma and Ozioma will look to tandem in their various field events. Jackson will look to cap of her senior year by improving on her personal best time in the 100-meter dash of 11.36; that time sits in the top 10 nationally.
The River Hawks performance at the meet in Princeton may be highlight by up and coming heptathlon competitor Kerstin Darsney, while on the men’s side, Robert Allen will look to pace himself well in two distance races, and Cameron Mitchell will be looking to leap into success in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles.
The New Hampshire Wildcats will be brining their distance expertise to the EC4A and ECAC championships. Kevin Greene will be racing in the 1,500-meter race for the men, while Elinor Purrier, and Laura Rose Donagen will look to capture the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
In the field, the Wildcats will have Jake Renaud and Michael Shanahan tossing the hammer, and Jessica Salley will be active in the high jump.
Stony Brook University will travel a pair of relay teams, along with some standouts in the conference. Matthew Granata ranks top ten in both the 400, and 800-meter, and teammate Chris Hand sits fourht in the AE in the hammer throw competition.
The women Seawolves will be led by Kaylyn Gordon; the freshman ranks in the top fifteen in the confrence in the 100-meter dash, then both in the top-five for the long jump and triple jump.
The Catamounts have over 20 students eligible for the ECAC and IC4A’s. The highlights for Vermont include the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship’s heptathlon winner Sara Roderick, and up and coming stare Grace Weisbecker.
Ian Werder was atop the America East in the long jump, and Fletcher Hazlehurst with Dylan Sounder make two of the top three in the conference in the 10,000-meter. Other notable Vermont males who qualified are Martin Kallur and Mallory Duncan.
ECAC and IC4A Qualifiers/Participants
ALBANY
Men
4x100-meter relay team (Robert Harris III, Taariq Jones, Mande Semon, Jaymen Teemer, Jason Tomlinson)
Youness Benzaid – 800-meter
Matthew Campbell – High Jump
Jordan Crump-King – Triple Jump
Eric Del Vescovo – Shot Put
Jonathan Eustache – Discus Throw
Colonel Fakarode – Triple Jump
Robert Harris III – 100-meter
Nathan Hiett – Pole Vault
Taariq Jones – 400-meter
Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong – 400-meter hurdles
Kingsley Ogbonna – High Jump
Tyler Ranke – 3,000-meter steeplechase
Mande Semon – 100-meter, Long Jump
James Sommer – 3,000-meter steeplechase
Jaymen Teemer – 100-meter, 200-meter
Jason Tomlinson – 400-meter
Phillip Udeogu – Javelin
Devon Willis – Triple Jump
Women
4x100-meter relay team (Michelle Anthony, Taahira Butterfield, Grace Claxton, Stephanie Osuji, Chanel Smith, Kahlia Taylor)
4x800-meter relay team (Dominique Claudio, Breanna Cummings, Chinira Lovick, Schuyler Pruyn, Johanna Smith
Mary Adeyeye – Heptathlon
Aderinsola Ajala – 400-meter hurdles
Michelle Anthony – 100-meter hurdles
Solène Bastien – Triple Jump
Alexx Baum – Triple Jump
Taahira Butterfield – 100-meter
Briana Cherry-Bronson – Hammer Throw
Dominique Claudio – 800-meter
Grace Claxton – 400-meter
Jessica Donohue – 10,000-meter
Janice Johnson – Shot Put
Lauren Lopano – Discus Throw, Hammer Throw
Molly Pezzulo – 10,000-meter
Schuyler Pruyn – 1,500-meter
Rochelle Reid – High Jump
Chanel Smith – 100-meter, 200-meter
Halie Snyder – 400-meter
Valentina Talevi – 10,000-meter
Kahlia Taylor – 100-meter, 200-meter
Paige Vadnais – Heptathlon, 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles
BINGHAMTON
Men
Brandon Bordeau – Discus
Pete Fagan – Pole Vault
Women
Keishorea Armstrong – Long Jump, Triple Jump
Kiki Arthur – 100-meter hurdles
Jackie Crunden – High Jump
Christy DiMichele – Pole Vault
Sarah Haley – Pole Vault
Alexis Hatcher – 1,500-meter
Alexis Murray – Javelin, Triple Jump
MAINE
Men
4x400-meter relay – (Michael Lucas, Joseph Viola, Jake Leithiser, Scott Merrill)
James Rutter – 100-meter
Jake Leithiser – 800-meter
Julian Hubbard – Triple Jump
Wilson Adams – Hammer Throw
Alexander Parenteau – Javelin
Aybars Gungor – Javelin
Women
Jaclyn Masters – Pole Vaults
Ashley Donohoe – Discus
Robyn McFetters - Hammer Throw
Emily Boardman – Hammer Throw
UMBC
Men
4x100-meter relay team (Afees Abolurin, Gideon Ampofo-Williams, Daryian Miles, James Oakley III)
4x800-meter relay team (Charles Bolinger, Nick Johnson, Rami Phillips, Matt Rever, Ty Thronson)
Yao Adantor - Shot Put
Daryian Miles - 100-meter
Hassan Omar - 5,000-meter
Isahq Rana – Shot Put
Vincent Rentzsch – Javelin
John Rybak – 400-meter hurdles
Thor Serafenas – Hammer Throw
Women
4x400-meter relay team (Kalane Abbey, Funmi Daramola, Paulette Fogle, Essence Fredericks, Mercedes Tillman)
Alisha Beeman – High Jump, Javelin
Katelyn Callaghan – 10,000-meter
Sophia Cologer – 3,000-meter steeplechase
Sarah Daly – 1,500-meter
Nneoma Edokobi – Shot Put
Ozioma Edokobi – Shot Put
Madeleine Entwistle – 100-meter hurdles
Paulette Fogle – 400-meter hurdles
Essence Fredericks –400-meter hurdles
Mercedes Jackson – 100-meter
Mary Katherine-Kulp – 400-meter hurdles
Kirsten McGovern – 10,000-meter
Mercedes Tillman – 400-meter
UMASS LOWELL
Men
Robert Allen – 1,500-meters, 5,000-meters,
Gilberto Brown – High Jump
Paul Hogan – 5,000-meters
Richard Kirby – 400-meter hurdles
Cameron Mitchell – 110-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles
Richard Mulo – 100-meter
Oluwatoni Onikeku – High Jump
Women
Kerstin Darsney – Heptathlon
Elisabeth Monty – 800-meters
Celeste Pipia – Shot Put
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Men
Daniel Johnson - Decathlon
Kevin Greene - 1,500-meter
Isaiah Penn - 400-meter
Ryan Maney – 110-meter hurdles
D’mahl McFadden - 110-meter hurdles
Drew Piazza – 800-meter
Christopher Poggi- 800-meter
Jake Renaud - Hammer Throw
Michael Shanahan – Hammer Throw
Women
4x100-meter relay team (Danielle Gajewski, Sydney Kay, Virginia Lavallee, Lauren Perrodin)
Samantha Blais – 10,000-meter
Brianna Boden – 10,000-meter
Laura Rose Donegan - 3,000 Steeplechase
Hannah Kimball- 1,500-meter
Virginia Lavallee- 100 high hurdles
Alyson Messina- 400-meter hurdles
Lauren Perrodin- 100-meter, 200-meter
Elinor Purrier – 3,000 Steeplechase
Jessica Salley- High Jump
Amber Short – 10,000-meter
STONY BROOK
Men
4 x 800-meter relay team (Bradley Amazan, Matt Lee, Alex LoPresti, Tom Wimmers)
Dan Denis - 5000-meter
Chris Hand - Hammer Throew
Matt Granata - 800-meter
Women
4 x100-meter Relay Team (Moriah Blackman, Kaylyn Gordon, hi-Anne Humes, Daneen Small, Courtney Warden)
Liz Caldwell - 5000-meter
Christine Eisenberg - 3000-meter Steeplechase
Kaylyn Gordon - Long Jump & Triple Jump
Courtney Warden - 100 Hurdles
VERMONT
Men
4x100-meter relay team (Ian Weider, Romario Bailey, Kyle Chu, Anderson Koenig)
4x800-meter relay team (Thomas O’Leary, Maurie Clark, Patrick Coppinger, Dan Deluna, Nick Deluna)
Aaron Anderstrom – 3,000-meter steeplechase
Isaac Delabruere - Javelin
Mallory Duncan – 400-meter hurdles
Thomas O’Leary – 1,500-meter
Ian Weider – Long Jump
Women
4x800-meter relay team (Smita Boesch-Dining, Gemma Del Rossi, Sydney Durand, Hilary Rawding, and Julie Richer)
Mallory Honan – Long Jump
Sara Roderick - Heptathlon
Ellen Bridgman - Heptathlon
Grace Weisbecker – Pole Vault