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Track and field teams have strong weekend on West Coast

All SU competitors finish in the top 10 at the Stanford University and the Asics-Winthrop Invitationals.

With the indoor season behind them, the Syracuse University men and women’s track and field teams sent a few competitors to the Stanford University Invitational and the Asics-Winthrop Invitational this weekend. Of the three SU participants that competed this weekend, all finished in the top 10 of their respective events.

Senior Kelsey Rubeor had a spectacular showing in the women’s heptathlon, finishing first overall with a personal best of 5,337 points. She finished first in five of the seven events that make of the heptathlon to round out a great start to the outdoor season.

Due to her performance this weekend, Rubeor has already qualified for the Big East and ECAC Championships in high jump, long jump and javelin. She also qualified for the ECACs in heptathlon.

Another SU competitor, Ieva Staponkute, had a great showing at Winthrop.  The junior placed 2nd in the long jump with a leap of 5.75m and 9th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.96.

Shamel Lewis rounded out the Orange in Winthrop with a seventh overall finish in the men’s 200 meter-dash in a time of 22.46. He also ran in the 100-meter dash, receiving a time of 10.81 in the preliminary round.

Out in California, SU had an up-and-down performance at the Stanford invite.

Sophomore Joseph Bubniak had the best showing for the Orange, placing fifth in section four of the men’s 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:52.

In the men’s 5,000-meter run, Robert Molke (11th, section three) and Corey Robinson (13th, section 2) finished with times of 14:22.25 and 14:22.88, respectively.

Four SU men ran in the 1,000-meter run, finishing in the top 30. Tito Medrano (17th) and Pat Dupont (28th) ran in the first section with times of 29:22 and 30:13, respectively. In the second section, Jay Koloseus (21st) and Sean Keefe (25th) finished with 29:58 and 30:06.

For the women, Lauren Penney and Katie Hursey had top 10 finishes in the 5,000-meter run in the first section. Penney finished 6th in 16:09 while Hursey finished 7th in 16:10. In the second section, Rebekah MacKay (13th) and Heather Stephens (18th) ran in 16:52 and 17:09, respectively. Sarah Pagano finished 6th in third section with a time of 16:32, while Lauren Kersjes (29th) ran in the fourth section with a time of 17:25.

Finally, Cassie White ran the 3000-meter steeplechase in 10:33, earning her a second place finish in the second section and Catherine DeSarle finished the 10,000-meter 13th in 33:38.

The Orange travels to New Jersey on April 1 for the Sam Howell Memorial Invitation, hosted by Princeton University.

Men and women's track and field teams battle in Big East Indoor Championships

SU women leave Akron, Ohio with an eleventh place finish, while men grab seventh.

The SU men and women’s track and field teams competed in the Big East Indoor Championships this weekend in Akron, Ohio. The men took home seventh in the last meet of the indoor season, while the women finished eleventh.

Despite a subpar performance, SU took home one individual victory on the men’s side. Kwaku Boah finished the men’s weight throw with a toss of 19.89m, the first to do so for the Orange since 1991. Boah also competed in the shot put event, finishing twelfth with a throw.

The men’s 60 meter hurdles produced a strong showing for SU, placing three competitors in the top five. Amadou Gueye finished in second with a time of 7.92, while Matthew Callanan (8:13) and Donald Pollitt (8:20) finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Frank Taylor finished fourth in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.07m. His teammate, Victor Nwosu, jumped 6.10m and finished eleventh.

A total of seven men’s distance runners competed in both the 3000 and 5000 meter runs. Tito Medrano led all SU competitors, finishing in the top 10 in both events. Medrano’s time of 14:22.07 was good enough for a sixth place finish in the 5000 meter run, while he finished in eighth in the 3000 meter run in a time of 14:22.07.  Corey Robinson also competed in the 3000 meter run, finishing tenth with a time of 8:24.62, while Pat Dupont finished eleventh in the 5000 meter run with a time of 14:35.64.  Steven Weeks (8:24) and Reed Kamyszek (8:26) rounded out the 3000-meter run for the Orange, finishing in twelfth and fourteenth, respectively. As for the 5000 meter run, Robert Molke (14:38) and Max Straneva (14.42) were the last SU competitors to finish, receiving thirteenth and fifteenth place, respectively.

The men’s 4x800 meter relay team of Greg Manning-Smith, Andrew Nelson, Nathan Saviet, and Joseph Bubniak finished ninth. SU’s distance medley team of Andrew Palmer, Tyler McCully, Nelson, and Weeks finished seventh.

Bubniak, the lone SU competitor in the mile run, finished eighth.

There were no first-place finishes for the Syracuse women, but there were a lot of top 10 finishes, especially in the 5000 meter run. Catherine DeSarle (third place) led her teammates with a time of 16:17. Natalie Busby (sixth) finished behind DeSarle with a time of 16:34. Sarah Pagano (16:40) and Heather Stephens (16:53) finished in ninth and tenth, respectively.

DeSarle also ran the last leg of the women’s 4x800 meter relay, which comprised of Liz McCarter, Michelle Riley, Busby and DeSarlie for a sixth place finish. Two of the runners for the 4x800 team also ran in the women’s distance medley team. McCarter, Kelly Anne McCarthy, Riley, and Lauren Penney finished fifth in the medley run.

Penney, the anchor for the medley team, also had a strong showing in the 3000 meter run. She finished in eighth with a time of 9:28.23. Behind her, Rebekah MacKay (9:47), Cassie White (9:49) and Stephens (9:52) finished twelfth, fourteenth, and sixteenth, respectively.

Kelsey Rubeor had two spectacular performances in the women’s high jump and pentathlon. She jumped 1.75m to a fifth place finish, while placing third in the pentathlon with 3699 points. Teammates Amber Passalagua and Erica Belanger finished sixth and eleventh, respectively.

In the women’s triple jump, Ieva Staponkute jumped 12.38m for a third place finish.

Rounding out the women competitors for SU were Sa’De Lewis, who finished twelfth in preliminaries in the 60 meter hurdles, and Ashley Keyes and Lareea Chisholm, who finished twenty third and twenty fifth in the 60 meter dash preliminaries.

Although the Big East Championships are over, 23 SU athletes will compete in either the IC4A or the ECAC Championship on March 5 in Boston, Mass. 13 men and two relay teams will represent Syracuse in the IC4As and 10 women and one relay will compete in the ECACs.

SU runners perform well at Valentine Invitational

Syracuse traveled to Boston University for the Valentine Invitational this weekend in preparation for the Big East Indoor Championships next weekend.

The Syracuse University distance runners participated in the Valentine Invitational this weekend, a two-day meet that featured the women’s events Friday and the men’s events Saturday.

Lauren Penney competed in the mile run Friday, and was the top finisher for the Orange with a time of 4:41 – good enough for 3rd overall. Heather Stephens and Elizabeth McCarter received times of 4:48 and 4:59 to finish in 8th and 26th place, respectively.

Following the mile, was the women’s 3000-meter run, which featured a host of SU competitors. Natalie Busby (9:33.31), Catherine DeSarle (9:33.31), Sarah Pagano (9:43), Rebekah Mackay (9:51), and Cassie White (9:52) each produced top 25 times. Lauren Kersjes (10:07) and Kimberly Spano (10:15) also competed in the event that included more than 100 runners.

The final event Friday was the women’s 5000-meter run. Carly Hamond finished 15th overall with a time of 17:21, with Erin Cawley (22nd) and Brenna Symoniak (23rd) coming in behind her with times of 17:30 and 17:31, respectively.

The first Saturday event only featured one SU runner in Andrew Nelson. His time of 2:27 in the 1000-meter run was good enough to receive a 7th overall standing in the event.

In the men’s mile, Joseph Bubniak and Corey Robinson were the only runners for the Orange. They ran neck-and-neck, with Bubniak edging Robinson by 14-tenths of a second. They finished 18th and 19th overall.

Just like their female counterparts, the 3000-meter run was a gold mine for SU men. Tito Medrano was the top finisher for Syracuse, finishing 8th overall with a time of 8:12. Robert Molke (19th) and Reed Kamyszek (20th) were next for the Orange with almost identical times. Pat Dupont (8:21, 26th), Andrew Palmer (8:22, 27th), and Steven Weeks (8:23, 32nd) were the next finishers for Syracuse.

The two-day invitational ended with the men’s 5000-meter run, which featured four SU runners. Roman Acosta finished in 7th with a time of 14:25, while Sean Keefe (14:42, 19th), Michael Brocks (14:59, 30th), and David Wilson (15:13, 44th) also competed for Syracuse.

SU’s distance runners will reunite with the rest of the track and field team next Saturday and Sunday as they head to Akron, Ohio for the Big East Indoor Championships.