Indoor Track Competes At Columbia Invitational
Meet Results
NEW YORK – The University at Albany men’s and women’s indoor track teams made their second trip in three weeks to the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory in New York City. The Columbia Lions Invitational, featuring a handful of teams from the northeast, kicked off a stretch in the schedule that could see UAlbany athletes competing at the Armory for four consecutive meets, up to and including the America East Indoor Championships on February 23-24.
With no team scoring at stake, performances would have to stand on their own merit. On the track for the men, junior Zachary Cook took second in the 1,000, running a personal best time of 2:27.49 and satisfying the IC4A qualifying standard. In the last year, Cook has dropped his time in the event by just over 10 seconds. The mile saw to UAlbany athletes finish in the top 12. Junior Chris Buchanan took 10th, running 4:09.48. Junior John DeLallo followed Buchanan in 12th, running a personal best of 4:10.52. Both times satisfy the IC4A standard. Additionally, senior Dylan Lowry set a new personal best by nearly four seconds, finishing 24th in 4:15.63.
On the women’s side, sophomore Ashlee Maduro placed fourth in the 60. She set a new personal best in the preliminary round with a 7.67, and followed up in the finals with a 7.75, which was also under her previous best. The time from the prelims satisfies the ECAC qualifying standard. The women had a particularly strong showing in the 200. Junior Michelle Anthony placed sixth overall with a new personal best of 25.23. Junior Aiyanna James finished ninth in 25.57. Maduro, adding to her personal best in the 60, took 10th in a personal best time of 25.60. Finally, senior Tynelle Taylor-Chase took 11th in 25.71, rounding out a group of four women finishing with a time gap of less than half a second.
In the middle distance events for the women, senior Brianne Bellon finished seventh overall in the 800 with a time of 2:10.78, a new personal best by almost two seconds. Bellon also satisfied the ECAC qualifying standard. In the mile, senior Silvia Del Fava took ninth in 4:54.88. Senior teammate Kathryn Fanning finished 11th in 4:55.10. Del Fava satisfied the ECAC standard, and Fanning had done so earlier this season. The 60 hurdles saw Taylor-Chase finish fifth overall. She ran a new personal best of 8.87 in the preliminary round, and ran a 9.06 in the finals. Freshman CiCi Simon finished seventh overall with a run of 9.11 in the finals, following up a 9.06 in the preliminary round.
Turning to the field events, the UAlbany men placed three athletes in the top seven in the high jump. Freshmen Kingsley Ogbonna, Youseff Benzamia, and Matthew Campbell placed fourth, sixth, and seventh respectively. Each athlete jumped 6’-6”, with final place determined by failed attempts at lower heights. Freshman Nathan Heitt took third place in the pole vault with a jump of 15’-1”. The long jump saw three UAlbany athletes place in the top six. Senior Alfonso Scannapieco took third with a jump of 22’-10”. Senior Kareem Morris finished fifth with a mark of 22”-1.75”. Finally, freshman Justyce Politt finished sixth with a jump of 21’-10.75”.
The women’s high jumpers fared even better than the men, placing four athletes in the top 10. Senior Rochelle Reid took fourth place with a mark of 5’-6”. Senior Ashley Grant took sixth, also jumping 5-6. Sophomore Solène Bastien took seventh with a new collegiate best of 5’-4.5”. Finally, freshman Min Pacella finished 10th with a mark of 5’-3”. Bastien also set a new collegiate best in the long jump, finishing seventh with a mark of 17’-11”. In the throwing events, juniors Samantha Kosa and Janice Johnson finished third and sixth respectively in the shot put. Kosa recorded a mark of 42’-6.75”, and Johnson threw 40’-7”. In the weight throw, sophomore Lauren Lopano again set a new personal best with a mark of 49’-11”.
The UAlbany men placed second in both relay events. The 4×400 team of Taariq Jones, Daryl Subran, Jason Tomlinson, and Larry Ramirez finished in a time of 3:16.89. The 4×800 team ran a 7:40.79. UAlbany’s women’s 4×400 team also took second place overall, with Aderinsola Ajala, Maduro, Kamilah Williams, and Taylor-Chase running a time of 3:48.81.
Next up for UAlbany is the Armory Collegiate Invitational, which will draw some of the best teams in the country. It is also the first two-day meet on the Danes’ schedule, kicking off on Friday, February 7 and continuing on Saturday, February 8.
