HUNTINGTON, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's track and field team accumulated 50 points in the team standings to finish in fifth place, out of seven competing teams, closing out the indoor portion of their 2014-15 schedule at the East Coast Conference Championship meet held today at St. Anthony's High School. Roberts Wesleyan College amassed 172 points to run away with the ECC title.
Daemen was paced today by Robert Ralyea (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) who won the pole vault event for the third-straight year at this meet. Ralyea cleared 3.86 meters and earned 10 points towards the team standings for his victory.
Also in field events, sophomore Alex Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) was a six-point recipient for his third-place showing in the long jump. Reed, who lept 6.39 meters in the finals after going 6.57 meters in the preliminary round, was one of five competitors to break 6.30 meters today. Freshman Nick Marlin (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) added a fifth-place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.73 meters to pick up two points.
On the track, Zac Ekdahl (Middlesex, N.Y./Marcus Whitman) and Jeremy Rushok (Akron, N.Y./Buffalo State College) both earned third-place finishes in their respective races to lead the way. Ekdahl came in just ahead of teammate Nigel Cordulla (Cheektowaga, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) in the 800-meter run with his time of 2:02.99 (Cordulla finished fourth with a time of 2:04.84) with the pair combining to earn 10 points in the event. Rushok's top-three showing came in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:15.90, earning the requisite six points.
Alex Reid scored two points by virtue of his fifth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (23.35 seconds), and Zach Eustance (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) earned a single point for his sixth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run (16:28.23).
The remainder of Daemen's points came in teamed races. In the distance medley, the team of Rushok, Cordulla, Ekdahl and Matt VanDeMortel (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva) earned four points with their fourth-place performance (11:10.43). Alex Reid teamed with Niko Jemmison (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Technical), Brandon Tytka (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and brother Andy Reid (Lockport, N.Y./University of San Francisco) to earn another four points (fourth place) in the 4 X 200 meter relay (1:33.52).
Rounding out the scoring for Daemen was the Wildcats' 4 X 400 meter relay team of Cordulla, Ekdahl, Jemmison and VanDeMortel. That group also finished in fourth place to bring in four more points.
Daemen resumes its 2014-15 schedule when the outdoor season gets underway with the Coastal Carolina University Invitational on March 13-14 in Conway, S.C.
