Men's Track Places Third At IC4A Championships
Results
Athletes of the Meet: Jason Tomlinson, Devon Willis
BOSTON – The University at Albany men's track & field program closed out the 2015 indoor season Sunday with a third place overall finish at IC4A Indoor Championships at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center. The men scored 44 points in third place, finishing behind winner Monmouth, who scored 58 points, and runner-up Georgetown, who scored 51 points. Defending champion Cornell tied for 10th with Rutgers, both of whom scored 28 points.
Last year at this meet, the men tied for second with Connecticut, scoring 54 points. Connecticut had been the defending champion from 2013. Cornell won last year's team title with 76 points.
Competition began on Friday with the first four events of the heptathlon. UAlbany did not field a competitor in the heptathlon, so the team's first event on the track was the preliminary round of the 60. Robert Harris III placed 18th overall, finishing in 7.04. Christopher Buchanan placed 13th in the mile, finishing in 4:10.45.
In the 400, Taariq Jones qualified for finals in third place, running 47.81. Jason Tomlinson qualified for finals in the 500 in second place, running a personal best time of 1:02.76, moving into third all-time at UAlbany. Ryan Small placed 22nd in 1:05.31. In the 800, Youness Benzaid qualified for finals in sixth place, running 1:51.18.
Four UAlbany student-athletes competed in the 200. Jaymen Teemer was the only one of the four to qualify for finals, placing 12th in an indoor personal best time of 21.90. Cherron Royal finished 13th in a personal best time of 21.91. Winston McCormack Jr. placed 19th in 22.13, and Robert Harris III placed 25th in 22.28.
UAlbany's final track event on Saturday was the 5,000. James Sommer placed 19th in 14:58.14. The Great Danes did not field any relays due to injuries.
Three field events were contested on Saturday, two of which contained UAlbany competitors. Jonathan Eustache placed fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 63'-5”. In the high jump, Alexander Bowen placed second in 6'-11”. Matthew Campbell placed fourth in 6'-9.5”.
After the first full day of competition, the UAlbany men were second in team scoring with 17 points. Northeastern led with 18 points. Rhode Island was third with 16 points, followed by Liberty with 14 points in fourth, and Iona with 11 points in fifth. Defending champion Cornell was 13th, scoring six points.
Jones competed first for UAlbany on Sunday on the track. He placed seventh in the 400 with a time of 48.04. Tomlinson won the 500 in a new school record time of 1:01.63. The previous record was 1:02.32, set in 2010 by Alie Beauvais. Additionally, Tomlinson now ranks second in the country in the 500 behind Mississippi State's Brandon McBride, a Canadian Olympian, who has run 1:01.40. Benzaid placed fifth in the 800 with a time of 1:51.32. Teemer placed 11th in the 200, finishing in 22.03.
UAlbany fielded three competitors in the triple jump. Devon Willis placed second with a personal best mark of 50'-8”, only a quarter inch behind the winner, David Oluwadara from Boston University. The mark moves Willis into third all-time in school history. Colonel Fakarode placed sixth with a personal best mark of 49'-1.5”. Jordan Crump-King was 10th with a mark of 46'-8”. Finally, Nathan Hiett placed ninth in the pole vault, clearing 15'-9”.
UAlbany's indoor season is now over, and this weekend's competitors will now join their remaining teammates as they enter the transition stage to the outdoor season. The next event on the calendar is the Shamrock Invitational in South Carolina on March 19.
