ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany track & field program kicks off the 2022 outdoor season with three meets, at Army West Point, in Puerto Rico, and in Orlando.
 
Carolina Spring Classic
March 18-19 | Carolina, Puerto Rico
Meet Info | Live Results
 
Competitors

• Brown, Denis, Gray
• Blake, Casab, Messado, Reagan, Tapande-Ngombe, S. Williams, T. Williams

Black & Gold Invite
March 18-19 | Orlando, Fla.
Meet Info | Live Results
 
Competitors

• Barrientos Alpha, Bigsby, Campos, Clarke, Collins, Hunt, Lowe, McDermott, Scott
• Blue, McFadden, Mitchell, Robinson

West Point Spring Open
March 18 | West Point, N.Y.
Meet Info | Live Results
 
Competitors

• Cooper, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi
• Heintzelman, Nicholson

Leading the Pack

• UAlbany has won 16-straight men's and 12-straight women's America East Outdoor titles
• The men return 87.75 of 140 points from the 2021 conference championship meet
• The women return 129.17 of 200 points from the 2021 conference championship meet
• The 2022 outdoor schedule features two trips to UConn, as well as the annual visits to Puerto Rico, Virginia, and the Penn Relays
• America East Outdoor Championships take place May 7-8 at the University of Vermont

Last Time at Spring Classic
The Great Danes' traditional outdoor season opener, UAlbany returns to the Carolina Spring Classic in Puerto Rico for the first time since 2019.  Venique Harris highlighted the meet, setting an NCAA #1 mark in the discus throw with her only throw of the day reaching 182-08.00.  Harris was the first woman in program history, and third Great Dane overall, to hold an NCAA #1 outdoor ranking in the program's Division I era.  UAlbany also secured victories in the women's shot put, the women's 100m hurdles, the men's 110m hurdles, and the men's 4x400m relay.
 
Last Time at Black & Gold Invite
UAlbany has not competed at UCF since the 2019 season for the UCF Knights Invitational.  Shelby Bigsby set a freshman class record in the women's shot put with a mark of 46-07.50.
 
Last Time at West Point
UAlbany has, in recent years, competed in the late-season West Point Twilight meet as a final opportunity to earn qualifying marks following the outdoor conference championships.  The Great Danes visited Army West Point twice during the indoor season, first in December at the Carlton Crowell Open, and later at the West Point Tune-Up.  In the latter meet, UAlbany brought only a selection of distance runners and pole vaulters, seeing two event victories out of six events. 
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany's last meet, the IC4A & ECAC Indoor Championships, closed out the 2022 indoor season.  It was the second opportunity for the multis athletes to compete in their full events following their first such chance the week before at the America East Indoor Championships.  Tino Mancabelli scored UAlbany's lone men's or women's point at the meet, placing eighth in the men's heptathlon.  The 800m featured three season or personal bests from Sam Rutt (2:11.52), Erin Hayes (2:13.35), and Keveroy Venson (1:51.64).
 
America East Outdoor History
UAlbany has won 16-straight men's outdoor America East titles, and 17 overall, and 12-straight women's outdoor titles, and 14 overall.  The men have had the most success in the triple jump, winning 14 event titles.  The women have had the most success in the hurdles events, winning 11 100m and 400m hurdles titles each.  The Great Danes also hold five men's and four women's active America East Outdoor Championship meet records.  Overall, the Great Danes have won 231 event titles at America East Outdoor Championships.  The men have won 134, including 81 track events and 53 field events, and the women have won 97, including 63 track events and 34 field events.
 
Sustained Success
Since reclassifying to Division I for the 1999-00 season, the University at Albany track & field program has won a total of 58 America East indoor and outdoor titles.  Thirty-one of those titles have come during the outdoor season.  The men's current streak of 16-straight outdoor conference titles is the longest in Division I, while the women's streak of 12 ranks second behind North Dakota State's 13-straight Summit League outdoor championships.
 
Since reclassifying the men's 17 outdoor 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.
 
The women's current streak of nine-straight indoor championships ranks second behind Arkansas' 10 SEC indoor titles.  Additionally, the women's 11 total indoor titles in UAlbany's Division I era rank tied for ninth among D-I programs overall, and tied for second 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).

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 60 of UAlbany's 121 conference titles in the Division I era, through the end of the winter 2021-22 season.  The men have won 17 outdoor and 16 indoor titles, followed by women's outdoor with 14, women's indoor with 11, and men's and women's cross country with one each.
 
ECAC Outdoor Qualifiers (19)
Bigsby, Brown, Campos, Clarke, Denis, Galette-Rowe, Gbadamosi, Gray, Hayes, Hunt, Hyde, Lowe, McDermott, Nicholas, Payne, Rutt, Scott, 4x400m, 4x800m
 
IC4A Outdoor Qualifiers (24)
Blake, Blue, Casab, Charles, Garcia, Gordon, Guialdo, Gutierrez Almedina, Hames, Mancabelli, McFadden, Meehan, Messado, Munro, Price, Reagan, Robinson, Rogalski, Tapande-Ngombe, Venson, S. Williams, T. Williams, 4x400m, 4x800m

Indoor Performers of the Week
 
Week 8
For the third time this season, UAlbany won both America East weekly field awards.  Shannon Bailey was named women's field performer following her runner-up performance in her signature event, the high jump, at the Fastrack National Invitational, in which she cleared a personal-best 5-06.00.  The men's field performer was Marcus McFadden, who won the men's long jump at Fastrack by matching his indoor season personal best of 22-11.00.
 
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.
  
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 Indoor Leaders (W/M)
60m: Dominique Clarke (7.48) / Shak Williams (6.78)
200m: X / Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina (21.23)
400m: X / Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina (46.98)
60m HH: X / Antwone Messado (8.07)
4x400m: X / 3:13.94
LJ: X / Louie Gordon (23-10.75)
TJ: X / Robert Blue (51-08.50)
SP: Shelby Bigsby (46-09.50) / Travis Robinson (55-03.00)
WT: Ludith Campos (67-11.50) / X
 
Indoor 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: Shak Williams (60m, 6.80, freshman)
2/4/22: Shak Williams (60m, 6.78, freshman)
2/25/22: Ludith Campos (WT, 67-11.50)
2/25/22: Dominique Clarke (60m, 7.48, freshman)
2/26/22: Dominique Clarke (200m, 24.15, freshman)
2/26/22: Travis Robinson (SP, 55-03.00, school & freshman)
 
USTFCCCA Indoor Regional Rankings
With conference championship weekend completed, the UAlbany men's team jumped five places to eight in the latest Northeast regional rankings, while the women held steady for the third-straight week at 11.  Connecticut took over the top spot from Harvard since last week, followed by Army West Point and Cornell, unchanged, with Brown jumping into the top five.  Binghamton slotted in just behind UAlbany at nine.  In the women's poll, the top five went unchanged from last week: Harvard, Connecticut, Cornell, Army West Point, and St. John's.  Binghamton was the highest-ranked America East team at six, with UMass Lowell just missing the top-15 by one spot.

Week 6: Men (8) | Women (11)
Week 5: Men (13) | Women (11)
Week 4: Men (12) | Women (11) 
Week 3: Men (11) | Women (8)
Week 2: Men (13) | Women (12)
Week 1: Men (10) | Women (14)
 
Northeast Region Indoor Top-8
Shelby Bigsby: Weight Throw (8, 61-08.25)
Nicardo Blake: 4x400m (6, 3:13.94)
Robert Blue: Triple Jump: (1, 51-08.50)
Ludith Campos: Weight Throw (2, 67-11.50)
Dominique Clarke: 60m (4, 7.48); 200m (6, 24.15)
Shiana Galette-Rowe: Weight Throw (6, 61-01.50)
Louie Gordon: Long Jump (5, 23-10.75)
Jan Michael Gutierrez Almedina: 200m (3, 21.23); 400m (2, 46.98); 4x400m (6, 3:13.94)
Brynley McDermott: 60m (8, 7.58)
Leann Nicholas: Triple Jump (3, 40-11.00)
Easton Reagan: 4x400m (6, 3:13.94)
Yourry Tapande-Ngombe: 4x400m (6, 3:13.94)
Shak Williams: 60m (8, 6.78)
 
Millrose 2022
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.
 
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: The Great Danes next compete in back-to-back meets at UConn on April 2 and April 15-16.