ALBANY, N.Y. – With just one weekend of competition before America East Indoor Championships, the University at Albany track & field program will travel with a dozen athletes to the Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas, while a few others will visit Boston University for the Valentine Invitational.
 
Meet Info
Tyson Invitational (February 14-15)
Live Results
 
David Hemery Valentine Invitational (February 14-15)
Live Results
 
Tyson Entries (W/M)
60m: Matthew / Napier
200m: Matthew / Gutierrez Almedina
400m: X / Cruz III, Banfield
60m HH: Jinks
LJ: Brundige, Onah
TJ: Brundige / Blue, Sturdivant
SP: Bigsby / X
WT: Bigsby, Campos / X
 
Valentine Entries (W/M)
PV: Martinez / Heatley
 
Leading the Pack

• The women lead the America East in eight events
• The men lead the America East in eight events
• Myles Banfield ranks third nationally in the 500m
• Hannah Reinhardt ranks 20th nationally in the women's 5,000m
• EJ Onah ranks 22nd nationally in the women's long jump
• Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina ranks 28th nationally in the men's 200m

 
Last Time Out
UAlbany hosted its inaugural Winter Classic last weekend at Ocean Breeze, adding a second home meet to their indoor schedule.  The meet was highlighted by Myles Banfield, who won the men's 500m in 1:02.88, the third-fastest time in the country.  Robert Blue also claimed an event victory, winning the men's triple jump in a personal-best 50-11.50.  For the women, Shelby Bigsby placed second and fourth in the women's shot put and weight throw, respectively, and Asia Jinks continued her hot streak in the women's 60m hurdles, placing second overall in 8.60 after an 8.72 in the finals.
 
Last Time at Tyson
As one of the most competitive events of the indoor season, UAlbany has only ever brought a small selection of its roster to compete at Tyson against the top performers in the country.  Last year, the Great Danes' visit saw a school record in the men's triple jump from Devon Willis, as well as the second-fastest indoor women's 4x400m relay time in history.  All four members of that relay that finished in 3:42.55, Asia Jinks, Jonel Lacey, Chidinma Matthew, and Kiyah Owens, remain on the roster.
 
Last Time at Valentine
A rare inclusion on the indoor schedule, the last time UAlbany sent a competitor to the Valentine Invitational was last year when Kyle Gronostaj placed fourth in the men's 5,000m in 14:08.78, which set a new school record.
 
America East Leaders (W/M)
60m: Chidinma Matthew, 7.50 / Garfield Napier, 6.80
200m: Chidinma Matthew, 24.34 / Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina, 21.06
400m: X / Myles Banfield, 47.72
500m: X / Myles Banfield, 1:02.88
5,000m: Hannah Reinhardt, 16:21.44 / X
60m HH: Asia Jinks 8.45 / Dawshawn Williams, 8.07
4x400m: X / 3:13.94
DMR: 11:56.01 / 10:08.90
LJ: EJ Onah, 20-03.75 / X
TJ: X / Robert Blue (50-11.50)
SP: Shania Scott, 46-06.75 / X
WT: Ludith Campos, 58-09.50 / X
 
School Records
12/7/19: Myles Banfield (600m, 1:18.81)
2/1/20: Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina (200m, 21.06)
 
ECAC Qualifiers (17)
Bigsby, Campos, Coleman, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi, Jinks, Lacey, Matthew, Onah, Owens, Quarshie, Reinhardt, Rowe, Rutt, Scott, 4x400m, DMR
 
IC4A Qualifiers (17)
Banfield, F. Beltran, Blue, Casab, Cruz III, Duffield, Gutierrez Almedina, Hermance, JeanPierre, Napier, Ragone, Somerville, Sturdivant, D. Williams, G. Williams, 4x400m, DMR
 
Reverse Jinks
In her first two meets of 2020, junior hurdler Asia Jinks  improved her time in the 60m hurdles to 8.45 through the early part of the season, now ranking third in program history.  Jinks raced in the hurdles four times in January, in trials and finals at each meet, and set a new personal-best in three of the four races.  At the Great Dane Classic, with an existing personal-best of 8.60, Jinks hit 8.52 in the trials and 8.51 in the finals.  At the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge, Jinks ran 8.53 in the trials before unleashing her current best, 8.45, in the finals.  Jinks owns each of the fastest nine hurdles times in the America East this season.
 
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 will put their conference titles on the line next weekend with the America East Indoor Championships.