ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany track & field program splits up for meets at Ocean Breeze and Boston University in the final tune-up before the 2022 America East Indoor Championships.
 
Fastrack National Invite
February 11 | Staten Island, N.Y. | Ocean Breeze
Live Results
 
David Hemery Valentine Invitational
February 11-12 | Boston, Mass. | Track and Tennis Center
Meet Schedule | Live Results
 
Fastrack Entries
 

Event	Women	Men
60m	Hunt	Baker, Casab, Edwards, Hames, Hatzmann, McDonough, Munro, Quinn, Umuhuza
200m	Baker, Clarke, Garner, Gray, Hyde, Joseph, Kaoma, Lowe, McDermott, Morris, Payne, Yahudah-Edwards	Blake, Blatche, Dengler, Hermance, Mancabelli, Price, Tapande-Ngombe, S. Williams, T. Williams
400m	Brown, Denis, Grady, Howard	Guialdo, Messado, Price, reagan
800m	Butterfield, Hayes, Rutt, Thier	Danaher, Diaz, Venson
1-Mile	Fitzmaurice, Guilfoyle, Hrelja, Planavsky, Zitomer	Garcia, Rogalski
5,000m	Iocca
60m HH	Calamunci, Denis, Hollis, Hyde, Nelson Chevry, Payne, Thier	Mancabelli, Meehan, Messado, Reagan
High Jump	Bailey, Hyde, Payne	Farquharson, Gordon, Harris, Meehan
Pole Vault	Brinsko, Martinez, Solomon-Hollander	Baker, Dengler, Gordon, Hatzmann, McDonough, Meehan, Price
Long Jump	Bailey, Barrientos Alpha, Foster, Omokeni, Payne, Pepanio, Thier	Cephus, Edwards, Mancabelli, McFadden, Quinn
Triple Jump	Barrientos Alpha	Allen, Blue, Charles
Shot Put	Bigsby, Gbadamosi, Scott	Blatche, Price, Robinson
Weight Throw	Campos, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi	Nicholson

Valentine Entries
 

Event	Entry
200m	Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina
400m	Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina

Leading the Pack

• UAlbany leads the America East in 12 events
• Great Danes have recorded nine varsity or freshman program record-setting performances this season
• Leanne Nicholas leads the Northeast Region in the women's triple jump
• Jan Michael Gutierrez is UAlbany's lone entry at the Valentine Invitational, seeking national championship-qualifying performances in the 200m and 400m

Last Time Out
The Great Danes visited the Armory for the second and final time of the 2022 season to compete at the two-day Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge.  The 60m dash saw its freshman class program record broken once again, with Dominique Clarke improving on her women's record to 7.55, while Shakur Williams broke the men's record twice, first with a 6.80 and later with a 6.78.  The meet was the first for the Great Danes this season to feature team scoring, and the men finished 10th overall and the women finished 14th, in a field that included UCLA, Penn State, Virginia, Syracuse, and Maryland.
 
Last Time at Fastrack
UAlbany last competed at the Fastrack National Invitational during the 2019 season, when they won five events and took second in four more.  Winners included Robert Blue in the men's triple jump, as well as Hannah Reinhardt in the women's 3,000m, Solange Wright in the women's 800m, and Adelaide Cook and Matthew Semon in the women's and men's shot put.  Blue's mark in the triple jump, 50-09.50, set a men's freshman class record that still stands today.
 
Last Time at Valentine
Only two pole vaulters competed at the Valentine Invitational the last time UAlbany had a presence at the meet, during the 2020 season.  Both vaulters, Samantha Martinez and Isaac Heatley, set personal bests in their respective events.
 
Performers of the Week
 
Week 6
UAlbany swept the field event awards in Week 6 with standout performances from Robert Blue and Ludith Campos, who each won their second-consecutive weekly award.  Blue won the triple jump at UAlbany's Great Dane Classic, recording a mark of 50-02.75.  Campos competed in two meets last week.  First, at the Millrose Games, Campos placed third in the weight throw with a mark of 59-06.75.  The following day, at the Great Dane Classic, she claimed victory in the same event in a personal-best 63-01.25.
 
Week 5
Following UAlbany's second week of competition of the 2021-22 indoor season, Boston University's Battle in Beantown, three Great Danes earned America East weekly awards.  Victories from Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina in the 400m and Robert Blue in the triple jump earned a sweep of the men's track and men's field honors, and Ludith Campos' fourth-place finish in the weight throw garnered women's field honors.
 
Week 1
UAlbany kicked off the 2021-22 indoor season by winning two of the four Week 1 America East Performer of the Week awards.  After their performances at Army West Point's Carlton Crowell Open, Yourry Tapande-Ngombe and Leann Nicholas were named men's track and women's field performer of the week, respectively.  Tapande-Ngombe won the men's 400m with a meet-record 48.49.  Nicholas set a new program freshman class record and meet record of 40-11.00 with her victory in the triple jump.
 
ECAC Indoor Qualifiers (11)
Bigsby, Campos, Clarke, Galette-Rowe, Gray, Hunt, Lowe, McDermott, Nicholas, Rutt, 4x400m
 
IC4A Indoor Qualifiers (12)
Blake, Blue, Casab, Charles, Guialdo, Gutierrez Almedina, Messado, Robinson, Tapande-Ngombe, S. Williams, T. Williams, 4x400m
 
Great Danes Around the World
Continuing a long tradition of international participation, senior thrower Ludith Campos will competed for the Dominican Republic in her signature event, the hammer throw, at the U23 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia.  She placed ninth overall, recording a mark of 188-05.00, her second-best performance of her career.
 
America East Leaders (W/M)
60m: Dominique Clarke (7.55) / Shakur Williams (6.78)
200m: X / Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina (21.58)
400m: X / Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina (46.98)
500m: X / Raiden Guialdo (1:04.73)
60m HH: X / Antwone Messado (8.24)
4x400m: X / 3:14.86
LJ: Jade Foster (18-07.25) / X
TJ: Leann Nicholas (40-11.00) / Robert Blue (50-02.75)
SP: X / Travis Robinson (54-11.25)
WT: Ludith Campos (63-01.25) / X
 
School Records
12/4/21: Travis Robinson (SP, 54-11.25, school & freshman)
12/4/21: Brynley McDermott (60m, 7.64, freshman)
12/4/21: Leann Nicholas (TJ, 40-11.00, freshman)
1/28/22: Dominique Clarke (60m, 7.59, freshman)
1/28/22: Dominique Clarke (200m, 24.50, freshman)
1/29/22: Dee Denis, Rori Lowe, Brynley McDermott, Imani Gray (4x200m, 1:39.05)
2/4/22: Dominique Clarke (60m, 7.55, freshman)
2/4/22: Shakur Williams (60m, 6.80, freshman)
2/4/22: Shakur Williams (60m, 6.78, freshman)
 
USTFCCCA Regional Rankings
Both the UAlbany men and women improved in the latest USTFCCCA Northeast Regional Top-15 Poll this week.  The men climbed two places to 11th while the women jumped four spots to eight, marking their first time in the top-10 this season.  UConn retained its top spot in the men's poll, followed by Harvard, Army West Point, Cornell, and Northeastern.  Binghamton slotted in just behind the men in 12th as the only other America East squad in the men's top-15.  The top two spots in the women's poll, Harvard and Cornell, went unchanged from last week, followed by UConn, Army West Point, and St. John's.  Binghamton remained ahead of UAlbany in seventh, while UMass Lowell fell one spot to 11th.
 
Week 3: Men (11) | Women (8)
Week 2: Men (13) | Women (12)
Week 1: Men (10) | Women (14)
 
Northeast Region Top-8
Nicardo Blake: 4x400m (6, 3:14.86)
Robert Blue: Triple Jump: (2, 50-02.75)
Ludith Campos: Weight Throw (3, 63-01.25)
Dominique Clarke: 60m (4, 7.55); 200m (5, 24.50)
Shiana Galette-Rowe: Weight Throw (6, 61-01.50)
Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina: 200m (8, 21.58); 400m (2, 46.98); 4x400m (6, 3:14.86)
Brynley McDermott: 60m (6, 7.59)
Leann Nicholas: Triple Jump (1, 40-11.00)
Easton Reagan: 4x400m (6, 3:14.86)
Yourry Tapande-Ngombe: 400m (8, 47.73); 4x400m (6, 3:14.86)
Shakur Williams: 60m (7, 6.78)
 
Millrose Recap
Three women's weight throwers competed early at Millrose on Thursday, with Shiana Galette-Rowe and Ludith Campos placing second and third, respectively, with Galette-Rowe recording a new personal-best.  Saturday, the main day at Millrose, featured UAlbany's men's and women's 4x200m relays, the latter of which set a new program record.
 
47
With his winning time of 46.98 in the 400m at Boston University's Battle in Beantown, Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina became the fifth Great Dane in program history to break 47 seconds in the event, and just the third to do so during the indoor season.  He follows former Great Danes Taariq Jones, Myles Banfield, Joe Greene, and Jason Tomlinson.  Only Jones and Banfield broke 47 seconds both indoors and outdoors.
 
Millrose Bound
When the field for the 114th Millrose Games was announced, included five entries for UAlbany, which was making its first appearance at the indoor season's most prestigious meet since the 2015 season.  Three women's throwers, Shelby Bigsby, Ludith Campos, and Shiana Galette-Rowe, will compete in the weight throw on Thursday, while the Great Danes qualified both the men's and women's 4x200m relay teams into Saturday's competition.  The women's team consists of Dee Denis, Imani Gray, Chidinma Matthew, and Rori Lowe, and the men will bring Nicardo Blake, Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina, Yourry Tapande-Ngombe, and Shakur Williams.
 
Layover
The 2021-22 season opener was UAlbany's first indoor track & field competition since the 2020 IC4A & ECAC Indoor Championships, marking a span of 637 days between indoor meets.  The 2020 indoor season concluded just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the spring season, which ultimately stretched to the fall and extended to indoor track & field in the winter.  Great Danes track & field and cross country athletes saw three seasons completely or partially eliminated due to the pandemic: 2020 outdoor, 2020 cross country (made up on a modified schedule in spring 2021), and 2021 indoor.
 
Hall of Fame
On October 23, 2021, and after a long delay due to COVID-19, University at Albany Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Roberto Vives was inducted into the Greater Capital Region Track, Field, and Cross Country Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020, the Hall's third-ever class.  He was enshrined alongside two other Great Danes in Jeoffrey York ('96) and Frank Myers ('68).  The trio joins in the Hall of Fame Bobbi Palma, UAlbany's first women's track & field coach, who was enshrined as part of the Hall's inaugural class in 2018.
 
America East Indoor History
For each of the last two seasons in which it was contested, the UAlbany Great Danes track & field program has swept the America East indoor championships.  The women are riding an active streak of eight indoor conference titles, and 10 of the last 11, while the men have won two-straight and 16 since their first in 2003.  Since joining the America East, the program has claimed a total of 210 America East indoor event titles.  The men have won 119, including 69 track and 50 field, and the women have won 91, including 58 track and 33 field.  In 2017, the men set a single-meet program record with 10 event victories, and the women's record of nine came in 2019, the year of their Triple Crown.  The women's most successful event has been the high hurdles, winning the event nine times, where the men have found the most success in the triple jump with 12 victories.  Currently, the Great Danes hold six women's and eight men's indoor championship meet records.
 
Sustained Success
Since reclassifying to Division I for the 1999-00 season, the University at Albany track & field program has won a total of 57 America East indoor and outdoor titles.  Twenty-six of those titles have come during the indoor season.  The women's current streak of eight-straight indoor championships ranks third behind North Dakota State's 14 Summit League indoor titles and Arkansas' nine SEC indoor titles.  Additionally, the women's 10 total titles in UAlbany's Division I era rank tied for 10th among D-I programs overall, and third since the team won its first indoor title in 2010 (North Dakota State, 12; Alabama State, 11).  The men's 16 total indoor titles are tied for second-most among D-I schools since 1999-00 with Houston, behind Liberty's 22, and outright second-most since their first indoor title in 2003 (Liberty, 19).
 
Outdoors, the Great Dane men hold the longest active streak of consecutive conference titles at 16.  The women's active streak of 12 is second nationally, one behind North Dakota State's 13-straight Summit League outdoor titles.  Since reclassifying the men's 17 titles rank second behind Liberty's 19, and the women's 14 rank tied for third with Bucknell, behind Monmouth's 17 and Alabama State's 15.  Finally, since winning their first Division I conference titles, the men's in 2003 and the women's in 2006, the Great Dane men and women each lead the country in outdoor conference titles.
 
Championship Pedigree
The UAlbany track & field and cross country program won its first America East title in 2003 when the men broke through to claim the indoor track team championship.  Since then, each of the six programs has won at least one America East crown, with women's cross country winning its first in 2018 as the final team to join the group of title-winners.  Overall, the program's six teams have collectively won 59 of UAlbany's 120 conference titles in the Division I era, through the end of the fall 2021-22 season.  The men have won 17 outdoor and 16 indoor titles, followed by women's outdoor with 14, women's indoor with 10, and men's and women's cross country with one each.
 
21
When he won the 2020 America East Indoor 200m championship, Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina crossed the line in 20.98, becoming the first Great Dane in history to break the 21.00 barrier outright.  Gutierrez Almedina previously ran a wind-aided 20.95 during the 2019 outdoor season.  In his career, he has won 10 America East event titles.
 
50
Only two women have hit the 50' mark in the shot put in program history.  Tara Belinsky hit it first, and remains the only woman to throw that far in both the indoor and outdoor events.  During the indoor 2020 season, Shelby Bigsby surpassed Belinsky's indoor record of 50-00.00 by nearly five inches, becoming the second woman to hit or exceed a 50' shot put mark.  Bigsby did not get a chance to carry her momentum to the outdoor season, which was cancelled due to COVID-19.
 
Continued Excellence
The UAlbany men have a stellar recent history in the high jump, featuring three overlapping student-athletes, Alex Bowen, Matthew Campbell, and Kingsley Ogbonna, who each cleared 7-00.00 in the event.  After they had all exhausted their eligibility, a new jumper joined the program.  Louis Gordon became the fourth Great Dane in history to clear 7-00.00 in the high jump, recording a season-best 7-02.25 to win the 2020 America East Indoor Championships as a freshman.
 
Triple Crown
After winning the 2018-19 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: After the cancellation of the 2021 season, UAlbany defends its titles from 2020 in two weeks at the 2022 America East Indoor Championships.