The Delhi track and field team split the squad up this weekend and attended two different meets. While some members of the program traveled to Cortland for the Upstate Alternative Invitational on Saturday, others headed south to Bucknell for the Bison Outdoor Invitational held on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend resulted in many new bests, two school records and numerous all-time marks.
How It Happened:
The first Broncos to hit the track were at Cortland. The only event win by a Delhi athlete came from Kim Dean who ran a big lifetime best in the 100 meters at 13.04 seconds to edge out second place by a razor-thin one-one thousandth of a second.
The busiest member of the team was Kitty Messina. She placed second overall in the shot put as well as the javelin with marks of 11.25 meters and 32.32 meters respectively. She also posted a big mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 38.06 meters to place twelfth in the meet.
Other top finishes came from Alexa Wolcott and Alyssa Cole. Wolcott placed second in her first-ever 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:02.43 which will rank her third in program history. Cole posted a new lifetime best in the javelin throw by a little over three meters to place fifth with a mark of 26.49 meters.
On the men's side, the team was led by Derek Leiter and Joey Ciufo. Leiter placed second in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:52.56 while Ciufo posted a collegiate best in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 16.39 seconds to place fifth overall.
Down in Pennsylvania at the Bison Outdoor Classic, the first big performance came from Senior Aidan Cutting. Cutting got a rare shot at the full distance of one mile and made the most of the opportunity, winning the event with a time of 4:19.95.
However, in the very next event on the track a quartet of women made sure they would always be remembered. Senior Sabrina Richards led off the women's 4x100 meter relay team followed by Miranda Cole, Zoe Rodi and Kadie-Ann Whyte as they ran their first relay of the year. Their time of 48.90 just broke the school record set last year of 48.91 set by Richards and Whyte along with alumni Katerina Salcedo and Jaylynn Sheppard.
That would not be the only record set, as junior Joshua Jeffes set out to break his own mark of 47.71 set last spring in the 400 meter race. He did just that, running 47.57 seconds to win the fast heat of the event. He would finish the meet in second place overall when an athlete in the next heat ran 47.38, but the time from Jeffes sets a new school record and ranks as number ten in the nation for NCAA Division III.
The final highlight and notable performance came from senior Morgan Condon. Condon ran a new lifetime best of 56.19 seconds to enter the Delhi all-time top 10 list at number nine. The performance placed him 16th overall in the highly competitive meet.
What's Next:
Next weekend the whole squad will travel to Cortland for the Cortland Classic on Friday and Saturday. This will be the team's final competition before the North Atlantic Conference Championships in Maine.
