AMHERST, N.Y. – Track and field standouts
Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and
Zach Laird (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) have been named the Daemen College Student-Athletes of the Month presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC for April, 2017.
Donahue, a senior, is set to conclude her outstanding career with the women's track & field team later this month. A four-year standout on the women's cross country team as well, it marks the fifth time over her career that she has earned Athlete of the Month recognition.
After a record-setting indoor track & field season this past winter, Donahue opened the outdoor track & field season on April 2 by placing first in the 5,000-meters at the Geneseo Early Spring Invitational. Two weeks later she posted a school-record time and placed first in the 10,000 meters at the Brockport Golden Eagle Friday Night Invite with a time of 35:35.11—a time that currently ranks 13th nationally among all Division II track athletes. The time eclipsed the 10,000-meter run provisional qualifying time (36:56.20) for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Championships, and by beating that mark Donahue has put herself in contention for an invitation to the national championships.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Donahue claimed individual titles in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs at the East Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships a week later—posting a conference-record time of 38:31.11 in the 10,000 meters.
She capped the month by helping Daemen's 4x400-meter relay team to a second-place showing at the University at Buffalo Invitational with a school-record time of 4:09.54. The benchmark squad consisted of Donahue and sophomores
Sydney McDonough (Alfred Station, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central),
Tiffany Cycon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and
Kyra Kress (Wayland, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central).
Donahue set five individual team records during the indoor track & field season and capped it off by repeating as ECC champion in both the 3,000 meter and 5,000 meter runs—eclipsing her own conference record time in both events. Her efforts earned her first-team All-ECC and first-team All-Region honors in both the 3,000-meter and the 5,000-meter runs for the second-straight year. She also collected first-team All-Region honors in the one-mile run. Her record-breaking time of 17:00.75 in the 5,000-meter run during the ECC Championship earned her a spot in the NCAA Division II National Championships, making her the first Daemen indoor track & field athlete to qualify for nationals.
Donahue's outstanding senior campaigns with the cross country and track & field teams earned her the
College's Female Athlete of the Year honors for the third-straight year. Daemen closes out the 2017 outdoor track & field season May 13 when it takes part in the Cardinal Last Chance Meet hosted by St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. Invitations to the NCAA Division II Championship will be announced later this month. The NCAA Championships will take place May 25-27 in Bradenton, Fla.
Laird, a junior who competes in throwing, sprinting and jumping events, posted seven top-five finishes and established three school records during the month.
He opened the month by placing second out of 37 entrants in the javelin at the Geneseo Early Spring Invitational with a school-record throw of 49.10 meters. The record did not last long, as a week later he broke the mark and placed fourth out of 44 competitors at the ROC City Classic with a throw of 50.63 meters. Those two efforts earned Laird ECC Field Athlete of Weeks honors in back-to-back weeks—becoming the first Daemen athlete to collect the honor since 2015.
After another top-five finish in the javelin a week later at the Brockport Invitational, Laird turned in three top-five finishes during the ECC Championships on April 22. He posted a fifth-place showing in the javelin (46.91) and also placed third with a school-record time of 17.53 in the 110-meter hurdles. Laird also took part in the high jump for the first time in his career and placed second with a leap of 1.78 meters.
Laird capped the month at the University at Buffalo Invitational. He narrowly missed recording his second 50-meter throw of the season and placed third out of 11 entrants with a throw of 49.30 meters. His efforts during the outdoor track & field season earned him team Most Valuable Players honors.
Laird and his teammates close out the 2017 outdoor track & field season May 13 when they take part in the Cardinal Last Chance Meet hosted by St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y.
