Track and Field enjoys some outdoor action

The SU track and field teams participated in the Princeton Sam Howell Invitational this past weekend. For many members of the Orange squad, the Princeton Invite marked the first outdoor competition in the 2011 season.

Friday, the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase featured a strong performance by the Orange. Heather Stephens lead the way, finishing 1st overall in 10:26. Rebekah Mackay was right behind her, crossing the finish line in 10:42 for a 3rd place finish. Erin Cawley (9th) and Carly Hamond (10th) rounded out the top-10 for the Orange, finishing with times of 11:08 and 11:09, respectively.

In the first session of the men’s 1,500-meter run, Syracuse runners struggled in an event that separated the first and last place finishers by only 22 seconds. Joseph Bubniak (13th) finished with a time of 3:54, while Corey Robinson (20th) ran in 3:56 and Andrew Nelson (23rd) finished in 3:57.

The men’s 5,000-meter run featured 85 competitors, with eight SU runners. Steven Weeks led the Orange in the event with a time of 14:47 and a 17th place finish. Next in line for the ‘Cuse was Patrick Geoghegan (14:51, 22nd), Justin Murray (14.54, 27th), Connor Stauffer (15:04, 41st), Jon Squeri (15:07, 46th), Zach Rivers (15:12.04, 52nd), Steve Murdock (15:12.13, 53rd), and David Wilson (15:41, 79th).

Two SU women rounded out competition for the Orange Friday in the women’s 5,000-meter run. Julie Jablonksi finished 8th with a time of 17:23, while Alexandra Clinton finished 23rd in 17:56.

Saturday, SU competitors participated in 13 events.

In the second session of the men’s 1,500-meter run, Greg Manning-Smith faired well, finishing 4th with a time of 4:01. Matt Bennett, the only other SU runner in the event, finished 28th in 4:09.

Kelly Anne McCarthy, the lone runner for SU in the women’s 400-meter dash, finished 27th with a time of 1:01. In the men’s 400-meter dash, Tyler McCully crossed the finish line in 51.65 seconds to finished 26th.

The women’s 100-meter dash featured one SU woman in the finals. Serenity Martin finished 18th in 13.42. Her teammate, Lareea Chisholm, ran 12:08 in her seeding, but was scratched for the finals. In the women’s 800-meter run, Michelle Riley finished strong in 7th place with a time of 2:14.

Field veteran Kwaku Boah competed in two events: the men’s hammer throw and the men’s shot. In the hammer throw, Boah came in 15th with a toss of 46.06 meters. Boah had a better showing in the shot put, finishing in 5th with his toss of 15.12 meters.

In the women’s high jump, Erica Belanger finished 9th with a leap of 1.55 meters. Belanger also competed in the long jump, finishing 22nd with a bound of 4.16 meters.

For the men, Evan Stivala earned a 7th place finish in the high jump, while finishing 11th in the long jump with a leap of 5.92 meters, behind teammate Will Watson. Watson finished 6th with a 6.41 meter jump.

In the javelin throw, Mark Melilli finished 3rd with a toss of 57.15 meters. Teammate Nick Damato was right behind him with a hurl of 53.07 and 5th place finish.

Women’s pole vault rounded out competition for the Orange this weekend, as Tara Brenner (12th), Leah Testa (15th), and Danielle Sherwood (19th) had tosses of 3.25, 3.10, and 2.95 meters, respectively.

Next weekend, SU will split up its team, sending some competitors to Tempe, Ariz. for the Arizona State University Sun Angel Invite and others to Ithaca, N.Y. for the Cornell Spring Invite.