Joe Greene & Marc Pallozzi Record Top-Five Finishes at NCAA East Regional Track & Field Championships

Gainesville, Fla. -- University at Albany’s Joe Greene and Marc Pallozzi each advanced to the NCAA championships in the 400-meter hurdles and javelin, respectively, for the second straight year on Saturday at the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The two-day regional meet was held at the University at Florida’s James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track.

Greene placed third in the 400-hurdles final, the best finish by a UAlbany athlete in regional competition. He eclipsed his own school record by sprinting 50.18 seconds. He set the previous standard of 50.52 in the NCAA Championship’s semifinal roundlast year. Georgia’s Justin Gaymon, who took third at the 2006 regionals, was first in 49.61, while South Carolina’s Thomas Hilliard grabbed second in 49.83. The top five finishers advance to nationals on June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.

Marc Pallozzi finished fifth in the javelin by recording the second-best throw in school history of 226-feet, 8-inches on his final attempt. Pallozzi, who was tenth in this event at the 2006 nationals to earn All-America honors, set the UAlbany standard of 228-2 at last year’s NCAA East Regional.

Mike McCadney and Jessica Ortman were edged out in their bids for a top-five finish. McCadney tied for fifth in the triple jump by breaking his own school record with a leap of 50-feet, 11.50 inches. However, he was placed sixth after the tie was broken with Georgia Tech’s Alphonso Jordan based on a better second attempt in the final. Ortman, who set a UAlbany record in the 800-meter run in qualifying, was seventh in the championship race with a time of 2:07.32. Both athletes will be considered for NCAA at-large bids by a committee, with the announcement due on Tuesday.

Gered Burns led UAlbany to a school-record effort in the 4x400-meter relay, as the Great Danes shattered the existing mark with a time of 3:08.86 to finish sixth. Burns ran 47.9 seconds on the third leg, while Junior Burnett and Joe Greene posted 46-splits in their sections. Pat Weider went 48.3 on the second leg of the relay. Florida won the competition in 3:06.31 as the top three relays qualify for nationals.

UAlbany Sends 17 Track & Field Athletes to NCAA East Regional in Florida

Gainesville, Fla. – Seventeen athletes, the largest group in the track and field program history, will represent the University at Albany at the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 25-26. The regional competition will be held at the University of Florida’s Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium.

The list of UAlbany qualifiers include Junior Burnett, Gered Burns (Guilderland), Ricardo Estremera, Joe Greene, Raphael Jean-Baptiste, Gabriel Lopez, Mike McCadney, Marc Pallozzi (Lansingburgh), Felipe Reyes (Christian Brothers Academy), Luke Schoen, Pat Weider, Freddie Wills, Adanna Andrews, Sarah Charles, Jenn Gurrant, Brenna Militello and Jessica Ortman. The top five finishers in each individual event and the top three relays in the 4x100m and 4x400m will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships on June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.

Burnett will compete in the 100-meter dash after winning his first America East Conference title. He is also a member of America East champion 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. Burns, a senior from Altamont, N.Y., qualified for the NCAA East Regional in the 800-meter run. He posted a first-place finish at the America East championship and placed second at the IC4A meet. Burns ran a season-best 1:48.75 at the UAlbany Spring Classic in April.
Greene, a regional qualifier in both the 400-dash and 400-hurdles, will concentrate this weekend on the hurdles. He holds both school records in the 400-dash and 400-hurdles. The sophomore became first UAlbany track and field athlete to win two consecutive IC4A outdoor championships at the Division I level with a season-best 50.65 seconds in the hurdles. He will also compete as a member of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

Pallozzi, the first UAlbany field athlete to earn All-America honors after placing tenth at nationals in 2006, will compete in the javelin for the third straight year. He has consistently thrown over 200-feet en route to garnering his second America East title and first IC4A crown this spring. Pallozzi holds the school standard with a toss of 228-feet, 2-inches. McCadney will compete in the triple jump after finishing second at the America East championship. He bested the UAlbany mark, established by Peter Rugel in 1991, by leaping 50-feet, 9.25-inches.

Reyes broke the long jump record, previously set by Luis Soto in 1998, with a mark of 24-feet, 6.5-inches in qualifying for the NCAA regional meet. Lopez won the long jump at the America East championship. Schoen, a freshman, is a regional participant after placing second at the America East championship in the pole vault with a school-record mark of 16-feet, 8.75-inches. Estremera won his first America East 3,000-meter steeplechase championship with a time of 9:03.46.

Ortman, a sophomore, qualified for NCAA regionals in two events, but will focus on the 800-meter run. She won the America East 1,500-meter run championship and recorded second-place finishes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 800m. She became the first UAlbany athlete to capture a Texas Relays’ title with a winning effort in the 800-meters.

Charles, a senior from Central Islip, N.Y., eclipsed the UAlbany triple jump mark with a leap of 41-feet, 2.25-inches at the UAlbany Spring Classic. She also posted a second-place showing at the America East championships. Andrews, Gurrant and Militello won America East titles in the 800m, long jump and high jump, respectively, to qualify for regional competition.

UAlbany Wins America East Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Joe Greene was named the championship’s most outstanding performer as UAlbany captured its fourth America East Conference men’s track and field championship in the last five years on Sunday, May 6 at UMBC Stadium Complex. The Great Danes also won the women’s championship for the second consecutive year.

Greene, a sophomore, placed first in the 400-meter dash and 400-hurdles for the second year in a row, plus was a member of the winning 4x400 relay, as the Great Danes set a meet record with 268 points. UAlbany held the previous standard with 230 points in 2003. Greene sprinted the 400-dash in a school and championship record of 47.09 seconds. He posted a 400-hurdles’ time of 52.95 seconds.

Junior Burnett earned the Coaches’ Award by scoring 23 points, as he won the 100-meter dash and was a member of two winning relays. Burnett crossed the finish line in the 100 with a time of 10.90 seconds. He ran the second leg on the 4x100 relay that was clocked in 41.37. Burnett teamed with Weider, Greene and Gered Burns to set a meet record in the 4x400 relay of 3:10.85.

Burns was among six individual men’s champions on the day, as he took the 800-meter crown in 1:50.15. Pat Weider was first in the 200-dash (21.76) and ran the lead-off leg on both winning relays. Freddie Wills won the triple jump with a leap of 46-feet, 10-inches. Renauld Buck was second in the shot put (48-2.50) and David Parker finished third in the decathlon with 5,830 points.

UAlbany recorded its second straight women’s track title by scoring 162 points. The Great Danes, who were in fourth place in the standings after the first day, edged New Hampshire for the crown. Jessica Ortman captured her second consecutive 1,500-meter championship with a time of 4:29.65. Ortman, a sophomore, also had a pair of second-place showings in the 800-meters and 3,000m steeplechase. Adanna Andrews held on against her teammate to win the 800 in 2:11.28. Brenna Militello won the high jump with a mark 5-feet, 7-inches after finishing fifth last year.

The Great Danes showed balance with five athletes taking second in their respective events. Anisha Andrews posted a time of 56.76 in the 400-dash and was six-hundredths of a second behind champion Keisha Short of Binghamton. Kamilah McShine (100-hurdles), Sarah Charles (triple jump), Ritshell Verdier (discus) and Valerie Maignan (heptathlon) were also second.

America East Conference Men’s Track & Field Championship

1. UAlbany 268, 2. New Hampshire 154, 3. UMBC 113, 4. Binghamton 100, 5. Boston U. 82, 6. Stony Brook 57, 7. Maine 45, 8. Vermont 25, 9. Hartford 11.

America East Conference Women’s Track & Field Championship

1. UAlbany 162, 2. New Hampshire 156, 3. Boston U. 139.50, 4. Vermont 110.50, 5. Binghamton 101, 6. Maine 73, 7. UMBC 70, 8. Stony Brook 31, 9. Hartford 14.