AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College men's track and field athlete
Robert Ralyea (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) was named First Team All-East Coast Conference for the pole vault to headline the Wildcats' five All-Conference selections today. The ECC announced its All-Conference teams based on the results of last week's ECC Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Rochester, N.Y.; the top two finishers in each event were named First Team All-Conference, while third and fourth place finishers earned Second Team All-Conference distinction.
Ralyea, a 6-foot junior, won the pole vault competition after clearing 3.50 meters in last weekend's conference championship meet. The mark established a new ECC outdoor championship record, bettering the previous mark of 3.20 meters set by Michael Pignotti of Mollow College in 2013. It also marked Ralyea's first outdoor conference title in the pole vault, an event he's won for three consecutive seasons at the ECC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Joining Ralyea as an All-Conference honoree is a quartet of Wildcats who earned Second Team All-ECC honors:
Zach Eustance (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton),
Jeremy Rushok (Akron, N.Y./Buffalo State College),
Andy Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) and
Matt McCann (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier).
Eustance and Rushok made it a Daemen sweep of Second Team All-Conference honors for the 5,000-meter run. The duo combined to earn 10 points towards Daemen's final team total of 48 by virtue of their third and fourth place finshes, respectively. Eustance finished the race in 16:22.99 while Rushok came in behind at 16:46.76. It's the second-straight year with Second Team All-ECC accolades in this event for Eustance; the 5-foot-6 senior established a new school record for this distance (15:57.92) at the 2014 ECC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, also finishing in third place.
Reid, a 5-foot-10 redshirt freshman and newcomer to the squad, picked up his Second Team All-ECC recognition for a third-place showing in the 400-meter hurdles. Reid completed his race in 1:01.76 to become the Wildcats' first-ever All-Conference honoree for an event including hurdles.
McCann rounds out the group of honorees. The 5-foot-8 freshman finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of (10:35.30).
The five total All-Conference honorees is an all-time high for the Wildcats since joining the East Coast Conference in 2013.
Daemen will complete its 2015 outdoor campaign at the Brockport Outdoor Invitational tomorrow (Saturday, April 25).
