It was a special day for the College’s men’s and women’s track and field teams as they both blew away the rest of the field and won the Division III Challenge at New York University this past Saturday.
The men finished with 84.5 points — nearly 20 points ahead of second place Oneonta State — while the women had 81.5 points — almost 30 points more than the University of Rochester, who finished in second place.
For the men, their strength was behind the relays. They won the 4x200 with the team of senior Robert Jiggetts, sophomore Scott Lisa, junior Kyle Magliaro and sophomore Michael Spekhardt running at the time of 1:30.29. They also received top honors in the Distance Medley Relay as the team of senior Shaun McGeever, sophomore Kevin Mulcahey, sophomore Dominic Tasco and senior Andy Herschman raced to a time of 10:05.66.
“I think relays are a great way for the team to come together and turn what some people may see as an individual sport into a true team effort,” Magliaro said. “This meet especially with the relays being the first events — they set the momentum for other events.”
Senior Christopher Medina won the 60-meter dash with a personal best of 6.89 seconds, continuing his amazing season. The time tied a school record.
In the field, the Lions were able to win both the high jump and the triple jump. Junior Steven D’Aiutolo, who is having a very impressive season, continued his winning ways by leaping 14.20 meters in the triple jump, while Lisa nabbed the high jump crown with a jump of 1.98 meters.
Other top performers included Spekhardt getting second in the 400-meters with a time of 50.15 seconds, sophomore James Seyffart placing second in the 1,000 meters at 2:34.40, junior Julio Alorro sailing 4.55 meters in the pole vault for second place and freshman Erik Moutenot running a 1:55.88 in the 800-meters, good for third place.
“My mindset was attempting to tell myself to stay calm and relaxed,” Seyffart said. “But all I was thinking about was trying to get a few points for the team and trying to hit the ECAC qualifying standard.”
The women’s most dominating event was the 800-meters, in which they took first, second and third. Freshman Katelyn Ary won the event with a time of 2:19.02, sophomore Emily Kulcyk was second at 2:20.02 and freshman Liz Johnson was third at 2:20.85.
The top finishes didn’t stop there; sophomore Erica Roberts and freshman Katheryn Karovic were one-two in the triple jump at 10.95 and 10.82 meters respectively. Freshman Katie Johnston and senior Nicole Brown were second and third in 400-meters with times of 59.27 and 1:01.62 respectively. The Lions were also able to win the 4x200 relay as the team of Roberts, Brown, freshman Michelle Cascio and Johnston finished the race at 1:47.48. Jackie Chester was third in the pole vault at 3.20 meters.
“Winning the relay is great because it really shows the depth of our team,” said Cascio. “Any team can have one individual runner win an event, but to have four girls come together and perform their best to get the win is really special.”
After facing bigger schools all season, the College went into a Division III only meet and was by far the best in show.
“I think that taking on so many Division I schools earlier in the season makes us more than ready to compete against other Division III teams,” Cascio said.
“This meet gave us a good chance to tune up and see similar competition that will be at NJACs and ECACs,” Magliaro said. “We are in a great spot and are all excited for the upcoming championship meets.”
The Lions will have the NJAC championship meet this Friday in New York.
