SU track and field fairs well at Cornell, falters at ASU

The majority of the Syracuse University men and women’s track and field team participated in the Cornell Spring Invitational this weekend, while three Orange competitors went to Tempe, Arizona, for the Sun Angel Classic at Arizona State University.

At Cornell, SU put on an impressive showing, as the majority of competitors for the Orange finished within the top 25 in all events.

In the second event of the day, Syracuse dominated the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, taking places 1 through 5. Leading the way was Katie Hursey, whose time of 10:27 propelled her to a first place finish, one of two on the day for Syracuse. Right behind Hursey were four more SU runners. Cassie White (2^nd) and Natalie Busby (3^rd) finished in times of 10:32 and 10:34, respectively, while Erin Cawley (4^th) and Carly Hamond (5^th) crossed the finished lines in 11:03 and 11:07, respectively.

Eight Syracuse men competed in the 1,500-meter run, continuing SU’s strong performance on the track. Justin Murray finished 5^th for the ‘Cuse in a time of 3:57, while Greg Manning-Smith came in soon after in 4:01 for 6^th. Nat Saviet (8^th) and Patrick Geoghegan (10^th) rounded out the top-10 with almost identical times of 4:02.05 and 4:02.52, respectively. Erin Schirm barely missed a top finish, falling behind Geoghegan by two-tenths of a second for an 11^th place finish in 4:02.54. 

In the women’s race, Lauren Kersjes was the only runner for the Orange in the 1,500-meter. She had a fine race though, finishing 4^th in a time of 4:42.

SU struggled in the men’s 800-meter run that featured Andrew Nelson, Nik Hansson, and Ryan Ellis. Nelson finished 14^th in 1:56, followed by Hansson (17^th) in 1:57 and Ellis (21^st) in 1:58.

The women faired only a little better in the same event. Michelle Riley had a good showing, finishing 4^th in a time of 2:13. Behind her was Abigail Decker (12^th), Kelly McCarthy (19^th) and Roseda Lo (22^nd), who finished in 2:21, 2:29 and 2:32, respectively.

In the women’s 3,000-meter run, the only SU competitors finished right behind each other. Alexandra Clinton (7^th) and Julie Jablonski (8^th) crossed the finish line in times of 10:09 and 10:16, respectively.

Brady Becker was the second Syracuse runner to finish first at Cornell, as he dominated in the men’s 5,000-meter with a time of 15:28.

Tyler McCully, one of SU’s dual-event competitors on Saturday, had a decent day in the 400 and 200-meter dashes. McCully finished 8^th in the 400-meter in 10.66, while receiving a 13^th place finished in the 200-meter with a time of 23.00.

Serenity Martin and Erica Belanger also competed in multiple events. Martin finished 2^nd in the women’s 100-meter dash in 12:91, while Belanger finished 15^th in preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles in 19.25. Both runners competed in the 200-meter dash. Martin finished 10^th in 27.04 and Belanger finished 24^th in 29.84.

Belanger also competed in the long jump, finishing 13^th with a leap of 4.8m. Aubree Mercure also took part in the event, jumping 4.58m to a 16^th-place finish. Mercure was also featured in the triple jump, finishing 11^th with a leap of 10.02m

In the men’s long jump, Will Watson leapt 6.63m for 12^th place, while Evan Stivala jumped 6.17m for 16^th. Stivala also competed in the high jump, finishing 4^th with a leap of 1.84m.

Nick Damato was the only SU competitor to participate in the javelin throw, finishing 9^th with a toss of 42.64m.

Syracuse has two more events next weekend. The Auburn War Eagle Invitiational in Auburn, Alabama is a two-day even on April 15 and 16 and the Kent Taylor-Joe Hilton Carolina Invitational at Chapel Hill begins at 10:30 a.m. on April 16.