ALBANY, New York – For the seventh straight year, the University at Albany has won the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship. For the men, it is their eleventh straight title, and for the women, it’s there tenth in the last eleven years.
The Great Danes men’s squad amassed a total of 192.50 points to secure first place. Rounding out the top three was UMBC in second with 123 points, and Binghamton hitting third with 113.50. It is the third straight year that UMBC finished in second place, and Binghamton secures their twelfth straight top-four finish.
For the women, the Purple and Gold simply dominated, earning 227 points, their highest point total since 2013 when they scored 245. Falling behind Albany was UMBC with 169 points, and New Hampshire with 153.17. Second place is the best finish in UMBC’s stint with the America East, and New Hampshire finishes in the top three for the first time since 2011.
The men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon competitors were the first to take to the track on day 2 of the championship. After all the events were completed, student athletes from New Hampshire and Vermont stood taller than the rest.
The winner of the men’s 110-meter hurdles decathlon event was New Hampshire’s Daniel Johnson with a time of 15.54 seconds. The junior would continue to pile up the points in the discus throw, where he bested the four other competitors, hurling his disc 37.75 meters.
The eighth event of the decathlon was the men’s pole vault, and Maine’s James Rutter cruised to a first place finish, clearing a height of 4.15 meters. No other competitor cleared more than four meters. In the javelin throw, Maine’s James Rutter bested the five-person field with a throw of 49.67 meters; with that finish, the decathlon title came down to the 1,500-meter run.
The final event of the two-day grueling test was won by New Hampshire’s Daniel Johnson (5:01.29), and with the first place finish, he also secured himself the top podium spot. The Wildcat junior finished with 6,337 points, edging out James Rutter, who finished with 6,198. The Black Bears did see themselves take bronze as well with Matthew York scoring 5,991 points.
The first event of the day of the women’s heptathlon was the long jump; Binghamton’s Daniella Olusoga secured first place, increasing her lead entering the day. The senior leapt 5.51 meters in her final attempt. In the javelin portion, Vermont’s Sara Roderick registered a throw of 37.75 meters in her second throw, easily capturing first place.
The final heptathlon event was the 800-meter run, and with over 100-point cushion, Roderick was looking to place well to maintain her lead and win the event. In finishing second in the race, Roderick would finish first overall in the heptathlon with a combined point total of 5,209.
Albany’s Paige Vadnais won the 800-meter race, securing her bronze in the seven-event marathon (4,487 points), and finishing second was Binghamton’s Olusoga (4,787 points).
Below are the final standings for the men’s and women’s decathlon and heptathlon:
Men’s Decathlon Results
1. Daniel Johnson, New Hampshire - 6,337 points
2. James Rutter, Maine – 6,198 points
3. Matthew York, Maine – 5,991 points
4. Kenneth Kopp, UMBC – 5,510 points
5. Tim Yandow, Vermont – 4,172 points
Women’s Heptathlon Results
1. Sara Roderick, Vermont – 5,029 points
2. Daniella Olusoga, Binghamton – 4,787 points
3. Paige Vadnais, Albany – 4,487 points
4. Kerstin Darsney – 4,272 points
5. Mary Adeyeye, Albany – 4,253 points
6. Taylor Ordway, New Hampshire – 4,103 points
7. Emma Checovich, New Hampshire – 4,099 points
8. Ellen Bridgman, Vermont – 3,966 points
9. Lauren Bossi, Hartford – 3,878 points
10. Mikaela Frechette, New Hampshire – 3,782 points
11. Catherine Dominick, Vermont – 3,487 points
The full day of final events began with the women’s 4x100-meter relay. Albany’s Grace Claxton was able to make up ground on the final split, carrying the Great Danes to the win with a time of 46.08 seconds. The time is a new facility record. UMBC took the silver medal in 46.50, and Binghamton came in third with a time of 46.71.
In the men’s 4x100-meter relay, UMBC just eked out first place in 41.54, just two-hundredths of a second ahead of Albany. The key to the Retrievers win was their anchor Daryian Miles; the junior out-legged Albany sophomore Cherron Royal just at the finish line.
The women kicked off the 1,500-meter race, and throughout the entire race there were two truly battling for the top spot. New Hampshire’s Elinor Purrier was finally able to get the best of UMBC’s Sarah Daly and win the event in 4:18.56. Daly came in second place (4:30.94), and wrapping out the top three was Hannah Kimball of the Wildcats (4:31.62).
Binghamton’s Jesse Garn hung around the pack in the 1,500-meter until the final lap, and then he kicked it up a notch, going on to win the event in 3:46.09. He edged out Stony Brook’s Eric Speakman, who finished in second (3:48.15), in the final turn to capture his second ever conference crown in the event.
Claxton continued her winning ways for Albany, winning the 400-meter dash in a time of 53.35 meters. She edged out the top prelim runner in Mercedes Tillman of UMBC, who placed second in 54.58. Albany’s Halie Snyder was able to capture bronze in her first ever America East Championship, finishing in 55.74 seconds.
The Great Danes decided it was best to double up on the 400-meter, taking both first and second place in the men’s race. Junior Taariq Jones won the event for the third straight year, this time finishing in 47.35 seconds. Teammate, and fellow junior Jason Tomlinson placed just behind in 47.92. Rounding out the top three was Jon Alkins of Binghamton (48.24).
Beginning the shot distance sprinting events, Albany’s Michelle Anthony won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 13.85 seconds. She resets her own facility record that she set earlier this season at 14.09. Freshman Courtney Warden of Stony Brook took second place in 14.19 seconds.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, New Hampshire had a pair of strong showings. Sophomore Ryan Maney placed second, just one-hundredth of a second behind junior D’Mahl McFadden. McFadden crossed the finish line in 14.62 seconds.
In the 800-meter race, it was a sweep for the Wildcats. Senior Anne Twombly took home first place with a time of 2:10.80, and sophomore Drew Piazza took gold for the men in 1:50.45.
In the most watched and anticipated event, Mercedes Jackson of UMBC reset the America East record books. The senior caps her historic Retriever career by resetting her own 100-meter conference championship record, recording a time of 11.36 seconds. Her paces shaves 24hundredths of a second off her previous record time, which she set in last year’s championship.
Finishing second in the 100-meter was Keishorea Armstrong (11.67), and taking third was Taelour Murphy of UMass Lowell (11.72).
In the men’s race, Albany’s Jaymen Teemer bested the field, crossing the line in 10.72 seconds. His time was just three-hundredths of a second faster than Daryian Miles of UMBC.
In the men’s 400-meter hurdles, Mallory Duncan of Vermont capped of his senior year with a win. He crossed the finish line in 52.51 seconds, ekeing out UMass Lowell’s senior Cameron Mitchell, who finished in 53.09.
In the women’s race, Albany’s Grace Claxton set a new America East Championship Record. The junior crossed the finish line in 58.51 seconds, besting the previous record by two-tenths of a second; Alison Poulin of New Hampshire set the previous mark back in 1993.
The men’s 200-meter dash was claimed by Albany’s sprinter standout, Jaymen Teemer. His second title of the day, the junior crossed the finish line in 21.46 seconds, beating out Alkins of Binghamton (21.72) and Albany’s Cherron Royal (21.92).
Mercedes Jackson claimed her second title of the day, and in the process, she swept the championship’s sprinting events. In the 200-meter dash, Jackson crossed the line well ahead of her competitors with a time of 23.55.
UMass Lowell’s Taelour Murphy closed strong to take second place in 23.98, and Binghamton’s Keishorea Armstrong placed third with a time of 24.02.
Anne Twombly of New Hampshire won the 5k race, continuing New Hampshire’s success in the distance races. The Wildcats ran the race in 17:16.37, finishing roughly three minutes ahead of her junior teammate Brianna Boden (17:19.08).
The men’s 5K was dominated by UMBC’s Hassan Omar. Claiming his second win of the 2015 championship, the junior crossed the line in 14:40.90. Coming in second place was UMass Lowell’s Paul Logan (14:44.79), and rounding out the top three was Stony Brook Seawolve senior Daniel Denis (14:50.35).
The 2015 America East Outdoor Track & Field Championship began to wind down as the relays took the spotlight in the afternoon. In the women’s 4x800-meter, a time of 9:04.36 by Albany was good enough to win it. The quarter that took gold was made up of Chinira Lovick, Breanna Cummings, Dominique Claudio, and Pruyn Schuyler.
Coming in second place was UMBC (9:07.95), and New Hampshire claimed bronze (9:13.22).
The men’s 4x800-meter relay was won by Binghamton University, followed up by Stony Brook and Vermont. The Bearcats, anchored by Garn, finished in 7:32.47.
The final two track events of the championship were the 4x400-meter relays. Both the men and women’s races were incredibly close heading down the final stretch. Eventually on the men’s side, New Hampshire pulled away on the final straight away to win with a time of 3:15.13; on the women’s side, UMBC ended on a high note, edging out the Great Danes in 3:42.40.
Turning to the field events, Albany started off day two of the championship taking the top two spots in the men’s high jump. Sophomore Matthew Campbell leapt 2.09-meters, edging out fellow sophomore teammate Kingsley Ogbonna who cleared 2.04 meters.
The men’s shot put, it was a tight race between two of the conference’s best. Yao Andantor of UMBC was able to out muscle Brandon Bordeau of Binghamton with his furthest toss of 17.41 meters. The Bearcat senior threw 16.06 meters for silver.
Albany’s Janice Johnson ended her Albany career by winning the women’s shot put toss, hurling her way to victory on her last throw of 14.66 meters. She bed out the Edokobi sisters of UMBC; Ozioma threw 14.52 meters, and Nneoma tossed 13.94 meters.
In the women’s discus throw, it was a freshman beating out a senior to take the America East title. Zoe Doolittle of Albany threw her discus for winning distance of 40.55 meters, beating out her teammate, the upperclassmen Veleisha Walker (40.29 meters). The Great Danes also took third place, with junior Lauren Lopano hurling 40.14 meters for bronze.
Albany couldn’t duplicate their efforts in the men’s shot put, for Brandon Bordeau of Binghamton halted them in their tracks. The senior won the event with a throw of 48.59 meters, bearing out Great Danes Jonathan Eustache, and UMBC’s Yao Adantor, who threw 47.53 and 46.50 meters respectively.
The Binghamton Bearcats saw their sophomore multi-event sensation Keishorea Armstrong win the women’s triple jump. Leaping 12.54 meters, she bested runner-up UMBC’s Alexandra Baum’s (12.46 meters) jump by roughly just eighth tenths of a meter. Alexis Murray of Binghamton came in third place, jumping 11.96 meters.
The men’s triple jump was led by the Great Danes as the Purple and Gold took the top two spots. Coming in as the runner-up was sophomore Jordan King-Crump with a jump of 15.10 meters, and edging him out was freshman Devon Willis. Despite recording three fouls, Willis was able to leap 15.20 meters in his fifth jump to take the America East title.
Men’s Final Results
1. Albany – 192.50 points
2. UMBC – 123 points
3. Binghamton – 113.50 points
4. New Hampshire – 110 points
5. Vermont – 84.50 points
6. UMass Lowell – 84 points
7. Maine – 76.50 points
8. Stony Brook – 56 points
9. Hartford – 8 points
Women’s Final Results
1. Albany – 227 points
2. UMBC – 169 points
3. New Hampshire – 153.17 points
4. Binghamton – 123.33 points
5. UMass Lowell – 57.50 points
6. Vermont – 35 points
7. Stony Brook – 35 points
8. Maine – 34 points
9. Hartford – 4 points
Men’s Award Winners
Outstanding Track Performer: Hassan Omar, UMBC
Outstanding Field Performer: Brandon Bordeau, Binghamton
Outstanding Rookie Performer: Devon Willis, Albany
Coaches’ Award: Jaymen Teemer, Albany
Elite 18: Daryian Miles, UMBC
Women’s Award Winners
Outstanding Track Performer: Mercedes Jackson, UMBC
Outstanding Field Performer: Keishorea Armstrong, Binghamton
Outstanding Rookie Performer: Elinor Purrier, New Hampshire
Coaches’ Award: Keishorea Armstrong, Binghamton
Elite 18: Anne Twombly, New Hampshire
Also receiving awards was the Albany Track & Field coaching staff; they were named both the men's and women's coaching staff of the year. Head Coach Roberto Vives, along with his entire coaching staff have created a powerhouse within the conference, both on the track and within the field.