Over the weekend, the SUNY Brockport men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to the Golisano Training Center at Nazareth University for the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Championships. The men’s team placed seventh with a total score of 26 and the women’s team placed fifth, scoring 36.75.
After day one on Friday, both teams were in fourth, with the men posting 16 points and the women scoring 21.75. On the men’s side, the 4×400 relay team of Michael Durski, Craig Duffy, Ayden Grinion and Jacob Miller finished second with a time of 3 minutes, 17.68 seconds. This mark earned the team eight points and also broke the school record of 3 minutes, 19.33 seconds, which the same four earned just a week earlier in the SUNYAC championships. Durski pointed to the team’s process for their success.
“We really just have faith in what we are doing and we’re putting in constant effort during practice every day,” Durski said.
Brockport earned six points in the distance medley relay as Thomas Kressly, Nick Markle, Owen Arbocus and Jonathan Zavala ran for a time of 10 minutes, 9.80 seconds. The other two points for the Golden Eagles came from the shot put where Alex Rood placed seventh with a 15.15 meters.
On the women’s side, senior Kerry Flower won the 5000-meter race, finishing in 17 minutes, 32.58 seconds and gaining 10 points for the team. Among other notable finishers, senior Sarah Crockett placed third in the shot put with a score of 13.27 meters. Senior Rebecca Heuler also participated in the shot put, recording 11.28 meters and placing 23rd. Combined, the two participants earned the Golden Eagles six points in the event. In pole vault, sophomore Becca Bready cleared 3.45 meters, finishing sixth and junior Tess Eichner finished right behind, tying with four others in seventh place with 3.30 meters. Brockport earned another 3.75 points in the event. The other two points the women’s team earned were for finishing seventh in the distance medley relay. Veronica Dailey, Ariana Proper, Vanessa Ramos and Mia Vizcaino combined for a time of twelve minutes, 39.89 seconds in the event.
Moving onto day two on Saturday, Flower earned another eight points for Brockport, finishing second in the 3000-meter race with a time of 10 minutes, 7.80 seconds. Junior Marissa Wise added another two points with a seventh-place finish in the 200-meter, finishing in 25.98 seconds. Senior Sarah Crockett earned the final five points, recording 17.26 meters and finishing fourth in the weight throw.
For the men, senior Matthew Jackson added their only two points of the day, finishing seventh in the weight throw with 16.42 meters. Another notable result was freshman Owen Arbocus finishing ninth, just .45 seconds off of scoring points in the 800-meter race. Despite the tough second day, Durski was still happy with the group’s effort.
“We have a great team and teammates that will push us every day which is huge. Iron sharpens iron,” Durski said.
Moving forward, both the men’s and women’s teams will have participants at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships that take place in Virginia Beach and will begin next Friday, March 8.
