For the first time this year, the men’s track and field team competed in a meet at Fauver Stadium and the home advantage served them well. The event was a non-scoring meet, but UR had many athletes who scored in the top eight places of their events, and notable performances were seen across the board.
“Overall it was a good meet,” senior captain Matt Tierney said. “The Alumni Invitational is always a great meet because of the excellent competition and it being a home meet for us.”
More than a dozen schools from the surrounding area participated, including the extremely competitive SUNY Geneseo, drawing 25-30 finishers for most events.
“This Sunday’s meet was the largest that the team will compete in until the state meet in May, so it was a great opportunity for everyone to challenge themselves against many of the same competitors we’ll face in the championship meets,” senior Kevin McGettrick said.
The men started the sunny but chilly day off with the 100-meter dash, where three runners placed in the top eight.
Freshman Marquis Turner, sophomore Max Ehrmann and senior Kirk Bristol were fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively with times of 11.27 seconds, 11.50 and 11.52. There were 26 runners in the event.
The next event was the 200-meter dash, where Tierney placed second with a time of 22.58, only finishing behind an unattached runner. Bristol finished eighth with a time of 23.08. In the 400-meter dash, junior Jacob Pylman was sixth, clocking in at 52.06.
The distance runners also faired well for the day, taking advantage of the more distance-friendly weather conditions. In the 5,000-meter run, McGettrick was second with a time of 15:29.03. Freshman Dan Chebot was third in the event, clocking in at 15:49.00. In the 10,000-meter run, sophomore Dan Mueller placed fourth with a time of 33:27.72.
In the hurdles, freshman Malik Sams placed fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.88. In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Brian Kraftschik placed fourth, clocking in at 58.45. Sams was seventh with a time of 58.81.
The relays had a very successful day, with the 4×100-meter team placing second overall and first among senior colleges, the 4×400-meter team crossing the finish first and the 4×800-team producing another second place finish.
In the field events, sophomore Dan Gloekler was second in the pole vault, clearing 4.10 meters, and freshman Kevin Easton tied for sixth in the high jump, clearing 1.77 meters.
The throwers finished the day off with some strong performances – sophomore Eric Scheele threw the discus 35.94 meters, good for sixth place and was fourth in the shot put with a distance of 14.08 meters.
Sophomore Mike Burgstrom was sixth in the hammer, throwing 43.95 meters and he was eighth in the shot put with a distance of 13.01 meters.
All in all, the team was pleased with the outcome of the day.
“Our team had several good performances and would have done very well had the meet been scored,” Tierney said. “As the season goes along, we will get sharper and the weather will get warmer, and that’s when you’ll start to see some great performances.”
McGettrick agreed about the future.
“We still have three more weekends before states, so there is plenty of time for us all to improve and to position ourselves to achieve our team and individual goals at that meet and beyond,” he said.
This weekend, the Yellowjackets will stay in the Rochester area, traveling to Roberts Wesleyan College on Saturday. The meet begins at noon.
Philbrick can be reached at ephilbrick@campustimes.org.
