Hosting a two-day meet against their upstate New York rivals, the men’s and women’s track and field teams placed first at the Upstate Challenge this past weekend.
The men’s team had four more members qualify for the IC4A Championships, while the women’s team had eight more qualify for the ECAC Championships. Binghamton, Buffalo, Princeton and Colgate were also in attendance at the event.
The men’s team, with 121 points, narrowly beat out Binghamton for first place by a single point, with Princeton, Colgate and Buffalo trailing in the final results.
The Red also featured two event champions, with freshman Rishabh Prakash finishing first in the mile (4:15.82) and sophomore Johannes Stromhaug taking home first-place in the pole vault (5.07m). Stromhaug’s impressive pole vault performance was a personal record, landing him eighth in the Red’s record book and qualifying him for the IC4A Championships.
Three other members from the men’s team also recorded personal records, automatically qualifying them for the IC4A Championships. Freshman Smith Charles (6.97) qualified for the 60m, junior Tumani Edwards (14.84m) qualified for the triple jump and Ian Frost (17.09m) qualified for the weight throw.
The women’s team finished first with 263 points, crushing Binghamton by 141 points, and it featured nine event champions. Junior Kellian Kelly (59.11) finished first in the 400m, senior Reagan Bachman (1:17.16) in the 500m, junior Melissa Zammitti (2:18.18) in the 800m and junior Elle Orie (5:02.49) in the mile.
Additionally, senior Claire Kao (3.87m) finished first in the pole vault, as did junior Marguerite Lorenzo (1.70m) in the high jump and sophomore Beatrice Juskeviciute (3973) in the pentathlon. The A team placed first for the 4×400 (3:53.08) and 4×800 relay (9:59.14) and the B team (11:58.85) for the distance medley relay.
Juskeviciute’s remarkable performance in the pentathlon not only earned her first place and a personal record, but also broke the program’s previous record in the event.
Juskeviciute, Kao, Lorenzo, the 4×400 A team and distance medley relay B team earned ECAC qualifications through their performances. Senior Victoria Casarrubias (2:51.61) qualified for the 1000m, sophomore Maria Siciliano (3.72m) qualified for the pole vault and senior Nikolia Kanaris (14.30m) qualified for the shot put.
The men’s and women’s team will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 1, when they host the Kane Invitational at Barton Hall.