LEWISBURG, PA (April 16, 2022) - The SUNY Delhi track and field team had a big weekend when they made their first trip to the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic since 2009. This meet typically serves as a big one for NCAA Division III athletes to get great competition and post marks that will earn them a spot in the National Championships in May. It certainly did that for at least one member of the Broncos.
Naquille Harris had not been in a competitive race yet this year in the 100 meters, but at Bucknell he found himself running lane two as the fifth fastest man in the field. However, Harris got a great start and ran an exceptional middle segment in his race, pulling off the win in the loaded field. Harris posted a time of 10.39 seconds with a legal wind reading of 1.2 m/s on the chilly day. This performance breaks the Delhi school record that Harris set last spring when he ran 10.49 seconds at the AARTFC Championships and makes him the fastest time in the country this year for NCAA III. Harris then doubled back into the 200 meter dash. With the weather deteriorating and the rain pooring down, Harris ran his second fastest 200 meter ever with a time of 21.46 seconds to place second in the meet, just getting beat at the finish line. At the time of the race, that time would have ranked tenth in the nation for NCAA III.
Also placing high in the meet was Joshua Jeffes. Jeffes had the rough luck of drawing lane one in both of his races, but ran well none the less. In his main event, the 400 meter dash, Jeffes placed sixth overall in the meet with a time of 48.87. The time was just off of Jeffes best of the year at 48.73 seconds from the Ramapo Invitational two weeks ago. Jeffes also doubled back to place 16th in the 200 meters with a time of 22.41 seconds.
In the longer races, the top performance came from Seth Bywater. Bywater did a lot of the work in his opening heat of the 5,000 meter run. During the last 1,000 meters, many runners that were happy to let Bywater do the work took over the lead and began to pull away. Bywater summoned something from deep inside and closed with a final lap split of 59.3 seconds to pass three men on his way to winning the heat. His final time of 14:41.29 was just four seconds off of Kobie Lane's school record from 2019 and is now the second fastest time in program history.
Teammates Lewis Race and Aidan Cutting ran the 800 meter and 1,500 meter races respectively. Race came very close to his second sub two minute performance running 2:00.72 while Cutting posted a new personal best in the 1,500 meters with a 4:04.34.
For the women, the big highlight came from senior Katerina Salcedo. Salcedo came to Delhi and set the school record for the outdoor 800 meters as a freshman, but with Covid-19 disrupting or outright canceling the last two seasons, she is finally getting back to where she wants to be. Salcedo, who normally goes out hard, ran a composed race following the leader through the 400 meter mark in 69 seconds. She then came back with another 69 second lap to take the lead and the heat win with a final time of 2:18.02, just breaking her record from 2019. With a lot of season left to go, Salcedo appears ready to keep moving that time down.
The sprint pair of Kadie-Ann Whyte and Jaylynn Sheppard continued to impress with some good performances. Whyte continues to drop time week after week, this time running 12.76 seconds, down from her previous best of 12.93. Sheppard, running in a separate heat, also posted a 12.76 second time with Whyte taking the faster mark by 0.001 seconds. Whyte also came back for the 200 meter event where she posted an outoor best of 26.55 seconds.
The final women to compete was Marissa Lombardi who ran the 3,000 meter run early in the morning. Lombardi posted a time of 11:44.87, twelve seconds faster than what she ran at the end of the indoor season in February.
The Broncos will head to East Stroudsburg University next weekend for a tune-up meet before the North Atlantic Conference Championship meet the following weekend. The NAC meet will be held at SUNY Delhi on May 1, 2022.
