The men's and women's track team traveled to St. Lawrence University to compete in the New York State Collegiate Track Conference (NYSCTC) championships, which took place on Feb. 23 and 24.
Teams from all over the area participated in this event, including SUNY Brockport, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oswego, Ithaca College, Buffalo State and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The women finished with 65 points overall, which placed them seventh among the 16 teams. The men earned an eighth place finish, accumulating 53.50 points over the two-day event. A total of 15 teams competed on the men's side, and they found themselves in the middle of the pack for the second year in the row.
The women's team, who are the two-time defending champions, found themselves among tougher competition this year. Junior Meghan Nolan continued to shine, placing first in the mile with a time of 5:02.57. Sophomore Liz Montgomery finished a close second in the race, with junior Taryn Hand finishing seventh and freshman Erin Marks placing eighth. Those four picked up 21 total points in that event. Nolan also anchored the team of Montgomery, junior Diana Snyder, and freshman Carly Kramer which won the distance medley relay. Their total time was 11:59.82, which was over 20 seconds better than the second place team in that heat.
Marks, sophomores Lauren Mesi and Meg Anderson, and junior Emily Hurley combined to place a commendable third in the 4x800 meter relay. Freshman Sandra Goettelman came in fourth in the 5000 meter relay while sophomore Laura Iafrati finished one place behind her in fifth. Goettelman also placed fourth in the 3000 meter relay, earning the team some valuable points in the long distance races.
Senior Joe Goodspeed continued his outstanding performance in the jumping events, winning the high jump event with a height of 6' 7.50" (2.02 meters). Goodspeed placed third in the long jump, reaching 20' 11.00" (6.38 meters). Senior Eric Wieber finished third in the high jump, and sophomore Greg Herlacher placed third in the 200 meter relay. Harlacher, senior Tim Johnsen, junior Dan Gettings, and junior Scott Baron combined to finish fourth in the 4x200 meter relay.
This event followed a disappointing second place finish at the SUNYAC championships, an event the team trained really hard for. "SUNYACs were our top priority, and we came up a little bit short," said Goodspeed. Success at the NYSCTC tournament was the main goal of teams like Ithaca, RPI and RIT. "Those schools treat NYSCTC championships like we prepare for SUNYACs," Goodspeed said. The teams look ahead to the ECAC championships, which will take place on March 2 and 3.