ALBANY, N.Y. – After a week off, the University at Albany track & field program returns to action this week with their only trip to the Armory in New York City this season for the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge.
 
Meet Info
Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge, January 23-25
Live Results | USATF.tv ($)
 
Entries (W/M)
 
60m: Coleman, Lacey, Lowe, Matthew, Osei-Boateng, Santana / Casab, Cruz III, Gutierrez Almedina, Hermance, Napier
200m: Coleman, Lacey, Lowe, Matthew, Santana / Cruz III, Gutierrez Almedina, Hermance, Napier, Reagan, G. Williams
400m: Jinks, Owens / Banfield, Velasquez
800m: Butterfield, Coddington, Grady, Quarshie, Rutt / F. Beltran, JeanPierre, Somerville
3,000m: Guilfoyle, Iocca, Reinhardt / Perillo, Ragone
60m HH: Hyde, Jinks, Payne, Reid, Robinson, Rowe / Duffield, D. Williams
4x400m: Jinks, Lacey, Matthew, Owens, Robinson / Banfield, Cruz III, Gutierrez Almedina, Hermance, JeanPierre, Reagan, Velasquez
DMR: Butterfield, Grady, Quarshie, Reinhardt, Rutt / JeanPierre, Ragone, Somerville, Velasquez
HJ: Mercado, Muamba, Payne, Reid, Wilson / D. Gordon, L. Gordon
PV: Martinez / Heatley
LJ: Brundige, Hyde, Onah, Reid / Blue, McFadden, Sturdivant
TJ: Brundige / Blue, Sturdivant
SP: Bigsby Cooke, Harris, Scott
WT: Bigsby, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi / Nicholson
 
Leading the Pack

• This year's Columbia Challenge features 17 teams, including Duke, Ohio State, South Carolina, and UCLA
• The men lead the America East in five events
• The women lead the America East in eight events
• EJ Onah ranks ninth nationally in the long jump
• Hannah Reinhardt ranks 16th nationally in the 5,000m and 32nd in the mile

 
Last Time at Dr. Sander
Competing in the Columbia Challenge section of the Dr. Sander Invitational last year, the Great Dane women placed 11th with 21.5 points and the men placed eighth with 27 points.  Ohio State claimed the women's team title, scoring 89 points to outpace runner-up Duke's 67.5, and the BYU men took the team title with 89 points, narrowly edging Ohio State's 81.  David Carlson took home the Great Danes' top result, finishing third in the men's shot put, while a slew of UAlbany athletes earned fourth-place finishes, including Devon Willis in the men's triple jump, Victoria Stoffel in the women's high jump, the women's 4x400m relay, and alumna Grace Claxton in the women's 300m.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany hosted the 17th Great Dane Classic, marking the official start to the 2020 indoor season, two weeks ago.  Current and former Great Danes won a total of four events.  Asia Jinks won the women's 60m hurdles, setting a personal-best in the preliminary round of 8.52, followed by another personal-best of 8.51 in the finals.  Chidinma Matthew won the women's 60m, tying her personal best of 7.50.  Graduate student Cara Sherman, competing unattached, won the women's 5,000m, and the men's 4x400m relay took home first in 3:13.94.  Additionally, Lynn Gbadamosi recorded a four-foot personal best in the women's weight throw, placing third in 55-09.25.  Finally, competing for Puerto Rico, UAlbany alumna Grace Claxton placed third in the women's 200m in 24.49.
 
ECAC Qualifiers (11)
Bigsby, Coleman, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi, Jinks, Matthew, Onah, Owens, Reinhardt, Scott, 4x400m
 
IC4A Qualifiers (12)
Banfield, Blue, Casab, Cruz III, Duffield, Gutierrez Almedina, Hermance, Napier, Somerville, G. Williams, 4x400m
 
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 compete in two meets in Boston next weekend, the Harvard Crimson Elite Invitational and the Boston University Scarlet & White Invitational.