Men’s Track Takes Fifth at Upstate Challenge

Meet Results

ITHACA, N.Y. – The University at Albany men’s indoor track team traveled west to Cornell University Saturday to compete in their third meet of the season, the Upstate Challenge.  Competing against eight other teams exclusively from New York, the UAlbany men took fifth place as a team, scoring 62 points.  Cornell took the team title with 174.5 points, followed by Buffalo in second, Syracuse in third, and Binghamton in fourth.

UAlbany was particularly well represented in the 500 over the weekend.  Sophomore Taariq Jones won the event in 1:05.08.  He was followed by senior teammate Larry Ramirez, who took third in 1:05.85.  Sophomore Jason Tomlinson took fifth place, winning heat two in 1:06.48.  Jones’ performance satisfied the IC4A qualifying standard in the event.

In the field events, junior Alexander Bowen jumped 7’-1.75” to take second in the high jump.  His mark matched the performance of the victor, Cornell senior Montez Blair, who took first place due to fewer previous failed attempts.  Senior Abel Gilet took third in the shot put, with a throw of 52’-5.25”, satisfying the IC4A qualifying standard.

Elsewhere, senior Matthew Catera took third place in the heptathlon, scoring a new personal record of 5,030 points.  The mark satisfies the IC4A qualifying standard and moves Catera up from eighth place to fourth place on UAlbany’s all-time heptathlon list.  Senior Youness Benzaid took fifth place in the 1,000 running a time of 2:31.81.  Finally, in the relays, the team of Jones, Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong, Tomlinson, and Ramirez took first place in the 4×400 with a time of 3:19.91.  And in the 4×800, the team of Benzaid, Zachary Cook, Connor Farrell, and Dylan Lowry defeated Colgate, the only other participant in the event, with a time of 8:05.47.

Next week, UAlbany returns to the Armory in New York City for the Columbia Invitational on Saturday, February 1.  The meet will mark the second of five scheduled trips to the Armory this season.