ALBANY, N.Y. – Returning following the semester break, the University at Albany track & field program restarts the indoor season in earnest this weekend, kicking off the New Year with their first of two "home" meets held at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island.  This weekend, the UAlbany hosts the 17th Great Dane Classic.
 
Meet Info
Great Dane Classic, Saturday, January 11, 10:30 a.m.
Live Results
 
Entries (W/M)
 
60m: Brundige, Coleman, Dodrill, Lowe, Magassouba, Matthew, Osei-Boateng, Santana, Wiles / Casab, Dixon, Edwards, Gutierrez Almedina, Hermance, McFadden, Napier
200m: Coleman, Dodrill, Foster, Hyde, Magassouba, Osei-Boateng, Payne, Reid / Cruz III, Dixon, Sturdivant
400m: Lacey / G. Williams, Rosenthal
500m: Archibald, Brown, Owens, Robinson / Banfield, DeGraw, Velasquez
800m: Grady / F. Beltran
1,000m: X / Johnson, Parchment
Mile: Butterfield, Coddington, Keown, Quarshie, Reinhardt, Rutt, Zitomer / Athanailos, A. Beltran, JeanPierre, Somerville
3,000m: Chambers, Leonard / Menis, Ramdani
5,000m: Brogan, Guilfoyle, Iocca, Planavsky / Garcia, Perillo, Ragone
60m HH: Hyde, Jinks, Payne, Reid, Rowe / Bush, Duffield, Jack, D. Williams
4x400m: Jinks, Matthew, Owens, Robinson; Brown, Lowe, Santana, Wiles / Banfield, Cruz III, Gutierrez Alemdina, JeanPierre; Duffield, Hermance, Rosenthal, Velasquez
HJ: Bailey, Hyde, Muamba, Payne, Reid, Wilson / D. Gordon, L. Gordon, Jack
PV: Martinez / Heatley
LJ: Foster, Rowe / Edwards, McFadden
TJ: Brundige / Blue
SP: Bigsby, Cook, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi, Scott / Jack, Reid
WT: Bigsby, Campos, Cooper, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi / Nicholson, Reid
 
Leading the Pack

• The women lead the America East in seven events
• The men lead the America East in two events
• EJ Onah ranks third nationally in the women's long jump
• Chidinma Matthew ranks 13th nationally in the women's 60m
• Hannah Reinhardt ranks 16th nationally in the women's 5,000m
• Garfield Napier ranks 23rd nationally in the men's 60m

 
Last Time at the Great Dane Classic
In 2019, UAlbany took home five event victories at their Great Dane Classic: Kiyah Owens in the women's 400m, Cara Sherman in the women's mile, Devon Willis in the men's triple jump, and both the men's 4x400m and 4x800m relay.  Additionally, then-graduate student Tara Belinsky, competing unattached, won the women's shot put.  The meet saw school records set in the women's high jump, 6-02.25 by Priscilla Frederick, and in the women's triple jump, 44-00.75 by Ruslana Tsykhotska.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany held its soft opening for the 2019-20 indoor season with two meets in Boston in the first week in December.  The bulk of the team went to Harvard's Crimson Opener, while the distance squad visited Boston University's Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener.  The meets were highlighted by three performances in particular, from Myles Banfield, Chidinma Matthew, and EJ Onah.  Banfield won the men's 600m in a school-record 1:18.81, which ranked third nationally at the time.  Matthew won the 300m in 39.35 and placed second in the 60m in 7.50.  Her 60m time ranked 10th nationally at the time.  Finally, Onah won the women's long jump in 20-03.75, a new personal best in the event that also ranked third in the country at the time.  All three student-athletes were named America East Performer of the Week in their disciplines to open the season.  In total, the Great Danes came away from the two meets with victories in four individual events and one relay.  One final highlight came in the men's 60m, which featured five Great Danes recording times under 7.00, the most in one meet in program history.
 
ECAC Qualifiers (8)
Bigsby, Coleman, Galette-Rowe, Jinks, Matthew, Onah, Reinhardt, Scott
 
IC4A Qualifiers (6)
Casab, Cruz III, Hermance, Napier, Somerville, G. Williams
 
XC Recap
Senior Hannah Reinhardt dominated the headlines during the 2019 UAlbany cross country season, setting program records in both the 5K and the 6K, as well as establishing a new UAlbany current at overall 5K course record with her second-straight America East individual title.  Reinhardt became the second Great Dane in the Division I era to qualify for NCAA XC Championships, following her victory at the NCAA Northeast Regional XC Championships, a program-first.  Reinhardt led the women to a fourth-place team finish.  Charlie Ragone and Christopher Perillo paced the men's team in 2019, following a 1-2 sweep of the UAlbany XC Invitational with a 21st-and 24th-place finish, respectively, at the America East XC Championships.  The men as a team placed seventh overall
 
Team Captains
After six individuals served as interim captains through the cross country season, the track & field program elected its eight full-time captains on December 5, coming away with a captain class of eight, including one returning captain, Hannah Reinhardt, and one elevated interim captain, Adrian Mitchell.  The other captains elected were Shelby Bigsby, Lynn Gbadamosi, Asia Jinks, Myles Banfield, Bryan Nicholson, and Charlie Ragone.
 
Triple Crown
After winning the 2019 America East XC team title, the UAlbany women went on to claim team victories in the America East Indoor and Outdoor Championship meets, becoming the first women's program in conference history to win all three titles in the same academic year.  Previously, the 2011-12 UAlbany men and 1988-89 Northeastern men had claimed the Triple Crown.
 
Next
The Great Danes have a week off before visiting the Armory in New York City for the only time this season for the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge January 23-25.