UTICA, NY The Men's and Women's track team had a successful day at the Utica Pioneer Invitational. With all the women's events complete, the women finished third with a total of 93 points. The men's meet had one more event to complete tomorrow, but the team will remain in fifth with 56.5 points. For the women, two school records fell and the men had several athletes perform their lifetime bests.
 
The men started the meet off well in the 5000 meters where junior Zack Williams placed third in a personal best of 15:53.84. He was followed by his freshman teammate, Owen Holland with his best time of 16:07.24 in eighth place. While the distance runners were circling the track our two high jumpers were flying over the high jump bar with freshman Luca Sturgeon clearing 1.83 meters (6'0"), good for second place and sophomore Bo Lynett clearing 1.73 meters (5"8") for fourth place.
 
In our sprint events, the Raiders took home several top eight places. In the 400 meters, senior Dillon Aryeh ran 51.61 to place second and freshman Ben Horner was fourth in 52.53. In the 200 meters, freshman Ethan Eisner lead the scoring crossing the line in third in a time of 23.43 with sophomore Ben Krill fifth in 23.52, his season best, and junior Dylan Wehrly rounding out the scoring trio in sixth with a time of 23.57, also his season best. Closing out the meet, the men's DMR team took home the gold in a time of 10:46.36, narrowly missing the facility record. The quartet was lead off by Aryeh on the 1200 leg, Sturgeon on the 400 leg, sophomore Thomas Richards running the 800 and Horner closing in the 1600.
 
The women's performances were highlighted by sophomore Elizabeth Driscoll bettering her own indoor school record in the pole vault with a jump of 3.07  meters (10' ¾") with the win in the vault. Her senior teammate, Amanda Gollaher placed second in a season best of 2.75 meters (9' ¼").  The other school record to fall was the 4 x 200 meter relay. The team of freshman Katie Caracciolo, senior Isabella Cunio, sophomore Graeson Landsberg and senior Rachel Schaaf placed fourth in a time of 1:53.23.  
 
Schaff continued her dominance in the jumping events taking home a first place in the triple jump in 11.50 meters (37'8 ¾") and a second in the long jump in 5.26  meters (17' 3 ¼"). Junior Dominique Groguhe was another double event scorer as she placed second in the weight throw in 14.48 meters (47'6 ¼) and fifth in the shot put with a toss of 11.23 meters (36' 10 ¼").
 
On the oval the mid-distance and distance crews had a good day. Led by senior Sophia Manners second place in the 3000 meters in a personal best of 10:04.55 and her freshman teammate Kara Shepard in sixth in her best time of 11:22.44. Two Raiders placed in the one mile run with junior Emma Pizer running 5:28.65 good for third and freshman Taylor Mitchell running her fastest split of 5:52.56 for eighth place. The 400 meters saw four Raiders place in the top eight. Sophomore Carollin Mellin led the attack in third with a time of 63.83, followed by Caraccioto in fifth in 65.19, Freshman Maria Laverde in 65.60 in sixth and Landsberg in seventh with a time of 65.81. The three athletes were separated by just 0.62 seconds.  To close out the meet for the women, the squad of Laverde (1200), freshman Sarah Silverman (400), Mellin (800) and with a strong anchor by Manners (1600) took home the silver medal.
 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Harlis Meaders
"It was a great day at the track as we saw multiple school records fall as we continue to prepare for the championship portion of the season. It was a lot of fun watching this team continue to come together and improve. I could feel the teams' confidence growing. I think my staff is doing a great job getting the student-athletes ready for the toughest part of the season.
 
On the women's side some of the better performances of the day came from Elizabeth Driscoll in the pole vault and the women's 4 x 200 relay. Sophia Manners had an impressive double after getting a personal best in the 3000 meters she doubled back with little rest in and ran the mile in the Distance Medley Relay. Rachel Schaaf won the triple jump again this weekend and took second in the long jump.
 
The men's distance crew had an excellent weekend with huge personal records in both the 5000 (Zack and Owen) and the 3000 (Rey). They men closed out the day chasing the facility record in the DMR but came up short.
 
In the field events, Luca finished second clearing six feet in the high jump for a second time this season.
Overall, I am really proud of how the athletes are coming together and helping each other continue to get better each week."
 
UP NEXT
The Raiders will take a squad to Boston this upcoming weekend to compete in the David Hemery Valentine Invite on Friday and Saturday February 11-12h.