The UR track and field teams traveled to Rochester Institute of Technology on Jan. 17 for their first meet since before winter break.
The solid performances of both the men’s and women’s teams were exemplified by the 51 athletes who qualified for the New York State championship meet and the three athletes who qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference meet.
Three men qualified for the ECAC meet and 20 qualified for the NYS championships.
Freshman Nick Chisholm qualified for New York States in both the 55-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. The shorter sprint distances fared well for freshman Benjamin Seigal (8.97) and sophomore Daniel Abud (9.29), who both qualified for the NYS championships in the 55-meter hurdles. In the 500-meter dash, sophomore A.J. Lee qualified for the ECAC meet with a time of 67.6 seconds. In this event, sophomore Alex Federation also qualified for New York States with a time of 70.4 seconds.
Longer distances were just as fruitful for UR men. Freshman Dan Wolfanger won the 800-meter run with an ECAC qualifying time of 1:55.56. In the 1,000-meter race, sophomore Francisco Ramierez qualified for states with a time of 2:43.89. In the 3,000-meter run, freshmen Jamie Vavra and Jason Zayak qualified for the NYS championships with respective times of 9:06.41 and 9:08.83.
Although the 4-by-200 meter relay team and the 4-by-400 meter relay team fell short of state qualification times, they placed fifth overall.
In the field, many qualified for New York States, as well. In the long jump, freshman David Cobb qualified for the ECAC meet with a jump of 6.62 meters (21 feet, 11.75 inches). Senior Travis Buttaccio (6.54 meters, 21 feet, 5.5 inches) and freshman Will McMunigal (6.17 meters, 20 feet, 3.3 inches) both qualified for New York States. Cobb and McMunigal also qualified for the NYS championships in the triple jump.
McMunigal tied for second place in the high jump with a NYS qualifying jump of 1.87 meters. In the pole vault event, freshman Ryan Miller qualified for the NYS championships with a vault of 3.95 meters.
Many throwers also qualified for states. In the shotput, graduate student Eric Scheele, junior Jacob Gardner and freshman Patrick Single all qualified. In the weight throw, four qualified for states Gardner, juniors Ethan Kaplan, Patrick Lutz and Nick Farris.
On the women’s side, 31 athletes qualified for New York States, and many of UR athletes qualified in the sprint races.
In the 55-meter dash, freshman Brittany Voll and senior Latoya Dunbar qualified. In the 55-meter hurdles, senior Jamie Landry qualified and was closely followed by freshman Laryssa Hebert with a time of 9.63 seconds. Freshman Kenisha Smith also qualified for states by running the 200-meter dash in 28.23 seconds. In the 500-meter dash, sophomore Jacqueline Cinella won the event and qualified for New York States with a time of 1:22.23. Freshmen Nikita Bourque and Hillary Snyder also qualified in the 500-meter dash.
In the distance runs, many Yellowjackets also qualified.
Junior Sadie Gollub qualified in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:20.64, closely followed by sophomore Megan O’Connor, who also qualified for states. In the 3,000-meter run, junior Heather Graham, senior Lauren Jewett and junior Rachel Given all qualified for NYS Championships.
In the field, Landry and freshman Marissa Eccleston qualified for the high jump. In pole vault, both sophomore Kristin Fekete and freshman Kaily Abbott qualified.
Three long jumpers qualified. Dunbar did so by jumping 4.94 meters followed by freshman Susana Gutierrez and Landry, who both qualified. In the shotput, senior Jonelle Redhead tied for first to qualify for states. Also qualifying for this event were sophomore Yaneve Fonge and junior Elise Scheid.
Redhead and Scheid also qualified for the weight throw, along with senior Kaitlin Schultz and junior Katie Litts.
All in all, with over 50 athletes qualifying for New York States, the Yellowjackets defiantly reminded the field of schools that UR is quite the competitor.
‘I was very proud of our rookie athletes,” coach Barbara Hartwig said. ‘They are blending right into the team and taking on the competition just like the veterans.”
The ‘Jackets will travel to the Saint Lawrence University invitational on Saturday, where they, literally and figuratively, hope to be back on track.
‘I have been very impressed by the work ethic of both teams, and if it continues, both should see a lot of success over the course of the season,” Hartwig said.
Rogers is a member of the class of 2012.
