DEHLI, NY- The men's track and field team traveled north to the USCAA National Invite this past weekend hosted by SUNY Delhi. The men had some tough competition on and off the track, but brought home National invitational runner up along with several individual titles. The overall team champions went to the host SUNY Delhi who finished the meet with 257 points. Berea finished a very close second with 225.5, Alfred State rounded out the top three finishing the meet with 127 total points. Other team representing the USCAA were Albany College of Pharmacy, SUNY ESF, Bryant and Stratton and the University of Dallas.
The top finishers from the sprint squad were Anthony Boateng, WynnJones Mbwambo, Wesley Saintilnord, and Issac Domenech. Boateng placed 4th in the 100m with a time of 11.6. He was followed by Mbwambo who ran a time of 11.63, placing 5th. Saintilnord placed 3rd in the 200m with a time of 23.03. Domenech placed 3rd in the 400m with a time of 51.28.
Adding Hurdles to the mix, Ethan Harris and Dave Bell brought heat to the track. Harris earned runner up in the 110m hurdles with a time of 16.51. Bell brought home runner up in the 400m hurdles with a time of 56.18, Harris followed him in this race with a time of 56.47, placing 3rd.
On the distance side, Jeremy Johnson and Dylan Watkins started the day off with a 1-2 finish in the 10k. Emmanuel Kemei brought home two personal National Invite titles in the 800m (2:01.05) and the 1500m (4:06.67). Casey Monti followed Kemei in both races. He placed 5th in the 800m with a time of 2:03.77 and 6th in the 1500m with personal best time of 4:11.09. Caleb Flege followed Monti in the 1500 also finishing with a personal best time of 4:19.17. Isaiah Dodson earned his National Invite title in the steeplechase with a time of 9:54. He was followed by Corbin Flege (10:21.83) who placed 4th in his steeplechase debut. Brock Arnold (10:43.06) placed 8th in the race. Isaiah Dodson returned to the track later to win the 5k with a time of 15:31.28. After running the 10k Dylan Watkins came back strong in the 5k finishing 2nd and running a personal best time of 15:37.76. After winning the 10k earlier in the day senior Jeremy Johnson came back with a solid 6th place finish in the 5k
The success continued to the field. Dave Bell placed 3rd in the high jump with a height of 1.8m. Bell placed 4th in the long jump with a distance of 6.27m and earned runner up finish in the triple jump with a distance of 13.67m. Jeremy Wilde placed 5th in the pole vault with a jump of 3.1m. Throwers Aaron Lange and Robin Hauschner earned a few titles for themselves. Hauschner brought home a National Invitational title in the hammer throw with a personal best throw of 35.51. Lange earned runner up, throwing 33.79m. Lange earned his National invitational title in the javelin with a personal best throw of 51.26m.
The men's relay teams finished off the night very well. The 4x100 started it off earning 1st with a season best time of 43.82. The relay was made up of Issac Domenech, WynnJones Mbwambo, Aaron Effoe, and Anthony Boateng. Then the 4x400 ended the night with another National invite title. The team was made up of Ethan Harris, Issac Domenech, Dave Bell, and Emmanuell Kemei. The men ran a time of 3:23.61.
"I am very proud of how this men's team competed today. Coming into the meet we knew we were going to be outnumbered by SUNY Delhi but these men never gave up and fought all the way to the end and made them earn every point," said Head Coach Shawn Jakubowski. The fire this team showed was exactly what every coach hopes to see at a Championship, it was a great ending to a fantastic year."
Up Next for qualifying Mountaineers is the Kentucky Twilight Invitational on May 7th. The meet is set to start at 9:00am.