Indoor Track Wraps 12th Great Dane Classic
Meet Results
NEW YORK – The New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory, the University at Albany indoor track and field program’s home away from home, played host to the 12th Great Dane Classic on Friday. 47 collegiate and club teams from across the country and beyond competed in the meet. Connecticut once again swept the team titles, scoring 120.3 points for the men and 117 points for the women. The UAlbany men placed third with 91 points, behind Connecticut and Buffalo, who scored 111.5, and the UAlbany women placed fifth with 56.5 points, behind Connecticut, Villanova, Buffalo, and George Mason.
Junior Chris Buchanan kicked things off early in the 5,000, taking second place overall behind unattached competitor Sam Alexander. Buchanan’s time of 15:04.32 earned him the top scoring place in the event, following an individual victory in the 3,000 in last week’s Penn State Relays.
Junior John DeLallo, another individual champion from last week, led a UAlbany sweep of the top three places in the men’s 800. DeLallo ran a 1:52.64, leading senior Larry Ramirez in 1:53.01, and junior Andrew Pirnie in 1:53.50. All three athletes hit the IC4A qualifying standard. Earlier in the meet, DeLallo placed fourth overall in the 1,000, running a time of 2:27.13, which also satisfied the IC4A qualifying standard.
Senior Kareem Morris placed 13th overall in the 200 in 22.09, hitting the IC4A standard. UAlbany’s 4×400 relay team, consisting of Jones, Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong, Jason Tomlinson, and Ryan Small, also hit the qualifying mark for IC4A’s, running 3:16.92. In the longer sprints, sophomore Taariq Jones placed eighth in the men’s 400, running a time of 48.86 to satisfy the IC4A qualifying standard.
Junior Alexander Bowen won the high jump for the second straight week, clearing a height of 7’-1.75”. Bowen led a pair of freshman teammates, Michael Campbell and Kingsley Ogbonna, who placed third and sixth overall, clearing heights of 6’-10.25” and6’-8.25”, with both athletes hitting the IC4A standard.
The men’s side saw four new meet records set on the day. A new meet record was set in the 60 by Zenith Velocity’s Reggie Dixon. Dixon ran a 6.75, lowering the meet record by one-hundredth of a second.
Villanova’s team of Josh Lampron, Bryan Murphy, Ben Malone, and Michael Palmisano set a new meet record in the distance medley relay. The squad covered the 4000-meter relay in 9:58.26, breaking the previous record set by Connecticut a year ago in 9:59.06.
A new meet record was set in the shot put by Buffalo’s Jonathan Jones, who recorded a mark of 64’-8.5”. Jones broke the old record by over four feet.
Finally, a new meet record was set in the boy’s 300 junior invitational. Zyaire Clemes of Trenton TC crossed the line in 33.64, besting the old mark of 33.96. This year also marked the first installment of a junior invitational mile. Mohamed Bath of Curtis TC won the inaugural event in 4:32.34.
On the women’s side, senior Tynelle Taylor-Chase took second place overall in 1:16.29, narrowly missing the ECAC qualifying standard. Senior Kathryn Fanning followed her victory in the mile a week ago with a second place finish in the 1,000. Fanning’s time of 2:49.70 hit the ECAC qualifying mark, to go along with the qualifying mark she hit in the mile already. Fanning won both the 1,000 and the mile at last year’s America East Indoor Championships.
The women’s mile saw Villanova’s Emily Lipari return to the event in which she set the meet record two years ago. Lipari won this year’s iteration in 4:43.92, finishing just shy of her own meet record.
Building off a strong cross country season in which she was the first UAlbany athlete to attend the national championship meet, senior Silvia Del Fava won the 5,000 in 16:39.70. She also hit the ECAC qualifying standard, and set a new meet record by three seconds.
UAlbany’s 4×400 of Aderinsola Ajala, Dominique Claudio, Kamilah Williams and Taylor-Chase finished fifth overall with a time of 3:50.08, also hitting the ECAC standard. George Mason set a new meet record in the event, running 3:44.17. Connecticut and Buffalo also ran times under the previous meet record.
A new meet record was set in the 200 by Nike’s Vashti Thomas. Thomas finished with a time of 23.96, besting the old mark of 24.23. Thomas also set a new meet record in the 60 hurdles, running a time of 8.17.
Central Connecticut’s Ronea Saunders tied the meet record in the high jump with a mark of 5’-10”. UAlbany senior Rochelle Reid placed fourth overall in the event with a mark of 5’-7”, which was good enough to hit the ECAC qualifying standard.
George Mason’s Mandissa Marshall set a new meet record in the pole vault, clearing a height of 13’7.25”, besting the mark set a year ago of 12-11.50. Jessie Gaines, competing unattached, set a new meet record in the long jump. Her mark of 21’-0.75” improves upon the previous record by four inches. And Coppin State’s Christina Epps set a new meet record in the triple jump with a mark of 42’5.25”, improving on the old record by two inches.
In the throws, unattached athlete Annie Alexander set a new meet record in the shot put. Alexander recorded a mark of 55’-1.5” to win the event by at least seven feet. She bested the old record by just under a foot.
Like the boys, the girl’s 300 junior invitational saw a new meet record performance. Zola Golden of Gotham Spark AC took the event in 39.21, improving upon the old record of 39.91. In the inaugural junior invitational mile, Toni Simpson of Mepham TC won with a time of 5:36.28.
UAlbany’s next event is the Upstate Challenge at Cornell University on Saturday, January 25.
