Boston, Mass. – UAlbany’s David Parker, Jean Juste and Michael McCadney set conference records to lead the Great Danes’ men’s team to their third consecutive America East Indoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Boston U. Track and TennisCenter in Boston, Mass. The UAlbany women finished in third place with 114.5 points. The men’s team scored 186 points to win the meet for the third straight year and for the fifth time in six seasons. Binghamton placed second with 142 points and New Hampshire finished in third with 130.5 points. On the women’s side, BostonU. won the championship for the third consecutive season and tenth time overall with 206.83 points. New Hampshire placed second behind BostonU. with 141.33 points.
Parker, named the meet’s most outstanding field performer for his performance, won the heptathlon with a school and conference record and IC4A-qualifying 5,262 points to break the previous school record of 5,029 set by teammate Freddie Wills on Feb. 2 at the Syracuse Invitational. Wills also eclipsed his previous school mark by finishing in second place with 5,127 points, increasing his IC4A-qualifying mark.
In the 55-meter hurdles, UAlbany turned in five of the top eight times. Juste won the event for the second consecutive season in a season-best and conference-record time of 7.43 seconds. Freshman Daniel Avery (7.57) placed third in qualifying for the IC4A meet, sophomore Garrett Askew (7.81) took fifth, junior Nick Assini (7.85) finished sixth and junior Anthony Assent (7.95) crossed the line eighth. Senior Dieuseul Joseph won the 55-meter dash in an IC4A-qualifying time of 6.48 seconds, while classmate Raphael Jean-Baptiste placed sixth in the event in 6.65 seconds. In the 200-meter dash, defending champion Pat Weider was edged out in his repeat bid by 0.01 seconds in an IC4A-qualifying time of 21.73 seconds. Junior Andrew Overbaugh placed seventh in the 400-meter dash in 50.12 seconds. The Great Danes captured the top two spots in the 800-meter run. Junior Joe Belokopitsky took first in a time of 1:54.05 and freshman Tyler Fogarty finished second in 1:54.40, as both qualified for the IC4A meet. The UAlbany 4x400-meter (3:17.99) and 4x800-meter relay (7:51.55) teams each turned in third place finishes.
In the field events, McCadney won the triple jump for the second straight year with an IC4A-qualifying and conference record leap of 50-feet, 6.75-inches. Wills (45-7.25) placed fifth in the event, while Kyle Nadler (45-4.25) came in seventh and Ray Gilman (44-9.5) came in eighth. Parker placed second in the high jump by clearing the bar at 6-feet, 7.50-inches and freshman Anthony Collica (6-6). A pair of Great Danes scored in the shot put. Senior Renauld Buck (47-11.25) came in seventh and junior Will Anger (47-10) was eighth.
In women’s competition, junior Kamilah McShine won the 55-meter hurdles for the second straight year in an ECAC-qualifying 8.06 seconds, while freshman Christen Griffin placed third in a season-best 8.34 seconds. Sophomore Zuliana Fontanez finished second in the 500-meter dash in an ECAC-qualifying time of 1:15.85. In the 400-meter dash, junior Melissa Lee finished fifth in a season-best time of 57.86 seconds and freshman Corrine Porter Stepney placed eighth with a season-best time of 58.34 seconds. Fontanez and Lee combined with Octavia Clarkson and Ashley Vives to place second in an ECAC-qualifying time of 3:53.45 in the 4x400-meter relay. Junior Laura Cummings scored in a pair of events for the Great Danes. In the 1,000-meter run she finished third in an ECAC-qualifying 2:55.56 and placed seventh in the mile in 5:01.33.
In field competition, junior Jenn Gurrant set the school record to place third in the triple jump with an ECAC-qualifying leap of 41-feet, 9.25-inches. Gurrant surpassed the previous mark of 40-11.5-inches set by Sarah Charles at New York’s Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 3, 2007. Senior Arina Gerasimova (39-3.25) placed fourth, freshman Sandy Antenor (38-10.5) finished sixth and freshman Tiffany Sprenkels (38-4.75) placed seventh, as all three qualified for the ECAC meet in the triple jump. Defending champion Brenna Militello placed third in the high jump by clearing 5-feet, 4-inches. In the shot put, freshman Kadine Johnson (43-7.25) placed second and junior Candice Mann (43-4.25) finished third.