UAlbany's Thompson Trio Named to 2014 Tewaaraton Watch List

NEW YORK CITY – UAlbany attackmen Lyle Thompson, Miles Thompson and Ty Thompson were all named to the 2014 Tewaaraton Watch List, announced by the Tewaaraton Foundation on Wednesday night. All three earn a place on the Tewaaraton Watch List for the second consecutive season. Lyle and Ty Thompson earned a nomination for the award last season, with Lyle Thompson being named one of five Tewaaraton finalists. The three Thompsons represent three of the four America East players on the Tewaaraton Watch List, with UMBC’s Nate Lewnes being the fourth. Lyle Thompson, a junior attackman, led the NCAA in points per game last season, finishing with 113 total points off 50 goals and 63 assists to earn First Team All-America honors. This season, he is leading the NCAA with six points a game in his first two contests, scoring two goals and 10 assists thus far, adding seven ground balls. Ty Thompson, earning his senior season, earned All-America honors in 2013 after leading the Great Danes with 54 goals, including 12 in man-up situations. So far in 2014, he leads UAlbany with six goals, scoring five against Syracuse, adding five ground balls. Also a senior attackman, Miles Thompson earned 73 points last year, despite missing six games due to injury, on 43 goals and 30 assists to earn All-America status. Including a six-point performance against Drexel, he stands with five goals and four assists. The nomination list of 25 will be made on April 24th, with the five finalists being chosen on May 8th and the Tewaaraton Trophy winner being selected on May 29th in Washington, D.C.

UAlbany Women’s Track Defends Conference Title

NEW YORK – The University at Albany women’s indoor track team finds itself in the same position it was one year ago as America East champions. Today’s victory sealed a successful defense of their title, and represented not only a consecutive championship, but a fourth team victory in the last five years. The women scored 198.50 points in the team competition, distancing themselves from runner-up Binghamton, which scored 125.83 points. Vermont finished third, scoring 109.33 points. The women were tied with Vermont at the conclusion of the first day of competition, with each team accumulating 45 points. But in day two, UAlbany gapped the field, ultimately claiming a decisive victory. Samantha Kosa kicked off proceedings for the women Monday morning, placing second in the shot put with a throw of 45’-2.25”. She was immediately followed by Janice Johnson in third place, with a throw of 43’-6”. Veleisha Walker placed fifth in the event, throwing 41’-4.25”. Kathryn Fanning placed third in the mile with a time of 4:50.73, after running a 4:47 1600 leg of the distance medley relay the night before. Michelle Anthony backed up her first place qualifying mark by winning the 60 hurdles in 8.64. Tynelle Taylor-Chase placed third in 8.76, and CiCi Simon placed fifth in 8.94. Taylor-Chase followed her hurdles result with a second place finish in the 500, running 1:13.09. Dominique Claudio followed in fifth with a time of 1:14.87. In the 400 finals, Aderinsola Ajala and Kamilah Williams placed second and third, running 56.59 and 58.02 respectively. Ajala finished just behind champion Alexis Kitsakos from UMass Lowell, who finished with a time of 56.56. Jillian Haynes and Kahlia Taylor went 3-4 in the 60, running 7.66 and 7.68 respectively. Ashlee Maduro placed seventh with a 7.84. Brianne Bellon placed third in the 800 with a 2:13.01. Breanna Cummings placed sixth with a 2:17.82, and Mackenzie Carter placed eighth in 2:20.75. Fanning, in her third event of the meet, placed second in the 1,000, running 2:52.88. In the 200, UAlbany placed runners 4-6 and eighth. Haynes led the way in fourth with a 24.67. Taylor placed fifth in 24.69. Anthony placed sixth in 24.88. And Aiyanna James rounded out the group in eighth with a time of 25.38. Silvia Del Fava, already a winner in last night’s 5,000 in dominating fashion, again claimed victory in the 3,000 in 9:40.20. She defeated second place by over 11 seconds. Valentina Talevi, sharing the same double as Del Fava, placed fifth in 10:00.08. Solène Bastien placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 38’-8.75”, and Pony Sokiri placed eighth with a jump of 37’-9.25”. In the high jump, Min Pacella tied for fifth with a fellow freshman in Binghamton’s Jackie Crunden. Both athletes jumped 5’-5.25”. UAlbany’s Rochelle Reid and Ashley Grant tied for seventh, jumping 5’-3.75”. UAlbany’s 4x800 placed fifth, with the team of Carter, Claudio, Cummings, and Bellon running 9:26.65. The Danes capped off their championship effort with a second place finish in the 4x400. The team of Ajala, Maduro, Williams, and Taylor-Chase finished just behind conference newcomer UMass Lowell, running a time of 3:48.61. At the conclusion of the meet, UAlbany had claimed victory in four events, two of which came from Del Fava. They shared in victory with the men’s team, which won their ninth consecutive title, also defeating Binghamton by a team score of 219 to 139.20. Individual awards will be announced at a later date following a coaches’ vote. Two weeks from now, those with qualifying marks will travel to Boston University to compete at ECAC Championships.

UAlbany Men’s Track Takes Ninth Consecutive Conference Title

NEW YORK – For the ninth consecutive year, and the 11th out of the last 12, the University at Albany men’s indoor track program claimed victory at the America East Indoor Championships. The men scored 219 points in the team competition, handily defeating runner-up Binghamton, which scored 139.20 points. Maine narrowly took third with 116.40 points. Following a successful first day in which they held an eight point lead, the Danes picked up right where they left off. In the first track final of the second day of competition, John DeLallo placed second in the mile in 4:11.20. Dylan Lowry placed seventh in 4:16.52. Taariq Jones successfully defended his title in the 400, running a winning time of 48.60. Jason Tomlinson finished fourth in 49.14, and Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong finished seventh in 50.03. All three UAlbany scorers are sophomores, although the finals field included only one senior. Alfonso Scannapieco was UAlbany’s lone representative in the 60 hurdles finals. He placed eighth with a time of 8.63. Larry Ramirez placed third in the 500 in 1:04.38. Kareem Morris won the 60 in 6.91. He was followed by Robert Harris III in third in 6.96, Donald Williams in fifth in 7.03, and Jaymen Teemer in sixth in 7.04. Andrew Pirnie placed third in the 800 in 1:53.23. Zachary Cook and DeLallo went 2-3 in the 1,000, running 2:28.14 and 2:28.35 respectively. Lowry, doubling back from the mile with DeLallo, placed sixth in 2:29.86. UAlbany qualified five athletes to the finals of the 200, which fielded only nine competitors. Morris placed second in 21.80. Teemer was third in 22.05. Jones, returning from his victory in the 400, placed fourth in 22.31. Harris III placed fifth in 22.41. Finally, Williams placed eighth in 22.77. Nicholas Mattera placed sixth in the heptathlon with 4523 points. Abel Gilet placed seventh in the shot put with a mark of 47’-8.5”. Two UAlbany athletes scored in the triple jump. Christopher Stephenson finished fourth, jumping 46’-4”, and Matthew Campbell placed seventh with a jump of 44’-2.75”. The Danes dominated the high jump competition, with each of the three participants placing in the top three. Alexander Bowen won the event, defending his title from last year with a jump of 7’-1”. Campbell placed second with a jump of 6’-10.75”. Kingsley Ogbonna finished third with a mark of 6’-8.25”. The highest finishing competitor, Aaron Tenny from Vermont, jumped two inches shorter than Ogbonna. The 4x800 team of Lowry, Ramirez, Pirnie, and Youness Benzaid placed first with a time of 7:37.93, defeating runner-up New Hampshire by nearly two seconds. Benzaid, as he has in each of his last three 4x800s, split 1:50 to cap off a weekend that began with a 4:09 split in the distance medley relay Sunday night. UAlbany closed the meet with a victory in the 4x400. The team of Obeng-Agyapong, Ryan Small, Jones, and Tomlinson ran 3:16.27, narrowly defeating second-place Maine, which ran 3:16.90. Tomlinson ran his fastest split ever at 47.9. At the conclusion of the meet, the Danes had accumulated victories in seven events. They shared in victory with the women’s team, which won their second consecutive title, also defeating Binghamton by a team score of 198.50 to 125.83. Individual awards will be announced at a later date following a coaches’ vote. Two weeks from now, those with qualifying marks will travel to Boston University to compete at IC4A Championships.

UAlbany's Roberto Vives To Receive Irv Mondschein Coaching Award

EW YORK – The University at Albany men’s and women’s indoor track teams are spending Friday and Saturday competing at the Armory in New York City at one of the biggest meets of the year, the Armory Collegiate Invitational. While they are down there, UAlbany Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Roberto Vives will be presented with the Irv Mondschein Coaching award during the opening ceremonies at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, February 8. Since its inaugural presentation in 2002, others who have won this award include Villanova’s Macrus O’Sullivan and Gina Procaccio (2013), Wisconsin’s Mick Byrne (2012), Georgetown’s Frank Gagliano (2009), Ohio State’s Russ Rogers (2006), and Irv Mondschein himself (2004). Both days of competition, including the opening ceremony and presentation of the Mondschein Award, can be streamed live via runnerspace.com. From the Collegiate Invitational program: “Roberto Vives, the head track coach at Albany for three decades, is the winner of this year’s Irv Mondschein Coaching Award. Vives has won nearly 50 conference team championships – men and women, indoors/outdoors and cross country – in his extraordinary career for the Great Danes. Raised in the Bronx, of Puerto Rican heritage, Vives wasted little time discovering his calling as a coach. A star hurdler at Cardinal Hayes High School, he also began helping on the coaching side by his senior season. After graduating from Seton Hall, where he competed in the hurdles and the decathlon, Vives began his formal coaching career back at Cardinal Hayes. He later coached at the Bronx High School of Science, CCNY, and Lehman College before settling in at Albany, where he has been since 1985.”

Bullard, Carey, Hoagboon, Nethaway Named 2014 UAlbany Baseball Captains

Bullard, Carey, Hoagboon, Nethaway Named 2014 Baseball Captains

UAlbany's Women’s Tennis Knocks Off Local Rival Siena on Sunday

ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women’s tennis team (2-2) picked up its second win of the spring season, 4-3 over Siena on Sunday. The Great Danes also fell 7-0 at Boston College on Saturday.

UAlbany's Craig Scores 22, Richards Sets UAlbany Single Season Scoring Record in 69-52 Win over Vermont

ALBANY, N.Y. - Powered by 38 points in the paint, UAlbany WBB, led by 22 points from Megan Craig, kicked off the Big Purple Growl with a 69-52 victory over Vermont on Saturday night. Courtesy: UA Sports