Courtesy of UR Athletics
This past weekend, the UR Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams made their way to St. John Fisher College to compete in the Cardinal Classic. The men’s team captured first place and scored 103.5 points to top the 15-team field. These points came from a variety of events, with numerous athletes claiming first place.
In the running events, senior Drew Zeccola captured first individually in the 3000-meter steeple chase, junior Jeremy Hassett was the first finisher in the 800-meter run, and the relay team of senior Max Sims, junior Jeff Hrebenach, freshman R.J. Morrow and freshman Matt Eichorn won the 4×100. In addition, Hrebenach captured the individual long jump title.
On top of the first place finishes, numerous other ‘Jackets contributed to the team score in both track and field events. These included freshman Ryan Rozen and junior Matthew Dalzell in the javelin, freshman Scott Mistler-Ferguson and freshman Mitchell Schoellkopf in the 400-meter hurdles, senior Max Kinder and senior Fran Cunningham in the hammer throw, Eichorn in the 100-meter and senior Clayton Stumpf in the pole vault. In addition, the A and B 4×400 relays finished second and third, respectively.
In the women’s team competition, the ‘Jackets placed third with 80 points. Rochester had individual champions in the 1500-meter, 400-meter and javelin throw secured by senior Alyssa Arre, Take Five Scholar Becky Galasso and junior Amanda Hall, respectively. Galasso also scored in triple jump, and Hall also scored in discus and shot put.
On top of the individual champions, the ‘Jackets were able to place numerous athletes on the podium. Other contributors were senior Brittany Porter in the 400-meter and the 200-meter, freshman Colleen Arnold in the 400-meter hurdles, senior Connie Mistler-Ferguson in the high hurdles, sophomore Alexandra Goldman in the discus and shot put and sophomore Eibhlin Regan in the discus. Junior Sandra Au placed in both the long and triple jumps.
“I think this past weekend really got everyone pumped for states and was a great tune up,” Zeccola said.
After analyzing the results, this is very much the case. The ‘Jackets demonstrated great depth in a variety of events by placing numerous team members on the podium. On top of this, many people were able to capture individual titles. If this continues, both the men’s and women’s team will have tremendous potential at the upcoming NYSCTC meet, the major team championship, at St. Lawrence this Friday and Saturday.
What will hopefully separate UR from the rest of the competition is their ability to supplement top finishes with numerous strong performances across the board. While the highest point value (10) is assigned for first place, positions 2-8 also contribute to the team score.
Judging by the list of entries, the ‘Jackets have many individuals qualified in certain events and are taking more team members to the championship than many other teams even have on their roster. Hopefully, this depth will allow the men’s team to continue their strong year and capture an outdoor track and field team title to supplement the title earned this past winter in indoor track.
The women’s team is looking to move up on their third place finish for the indoor track and field NYSCTC championship, and capture a trophy this upcoming weekend. Trophies are awarded to first and second team finishes.
To start off last weekend’s NYSCTC meet, junior decathlete Patrick Rice captured second place this past weekend and freshman heptathlete Adreanna Bowers placed sixth. Both teams look to add to these point titles by finishing toward the top of the score sheet for team standings.
“I think we can accomplish great things,” Zeccola said. “It really looks like we can get Coach Izzo [who is retiring at the end of the season] a final championship.”
Kuhrt is a member of the class of 2017.
