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.