BROCKPORT, N.Y. - Sophomore long distance runner
Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) won the 3,000-meter run to lead the Daemen College women's indoor track and field team to a seventh-place finish in the team standings at the Brockport Mid-Season Classic held today at the Special Events and Recreation Center. Daemen amassed 38 points from various events to edge out eighth-place Hamilton College (37 points) by a single point, and to finish just two back of Division I-Niagara University (40 points, sixth place). The host Brockport Golden Eagles racked up 168.5 points to sit atop the team standings at the meet's conclusion.
Donahue, arguably the team's most accomplished runner at long distances, came through with another top-notch performance today. Her time of 10:53.53 was better than second-place finisher Lindsay Heyer of Hamilton College (10:57.38) by nearly four seconds, and it set the tone for the Wildcats' runners today. 32 of the Wildcats' 38 points came on the track, including the 10 earned by Donahue for her victory in the 3,000-meter run.
Freshman
Kailyn Szymanski (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) had a solid all-around meet as well. She had her hand in 12 points, beginning with a four-point individual performance by virtue of a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter dash. Szymanski ran the race in 1:02.10 and was less than three seconds off the pace set by race-winner Amanda White of Rochester Institute of Technology who had the only sub-one-minute time of the race (59.34 seconds).
Szymanski would go on to aid a pair of Wildcat relay teams in earning points. In the 4 X 400-meter relay, she teamed with
Hannah Rice (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora),
Brooke Nolan (Depew, N.Y./Depew) and
Leah May (Palmyra, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon) to finish in third place with a time of 4:23.63 which earned Daemen six points. In the 4 X 200-meter relay, Szymanski ran leadoff with teammates
Ashley Krol (Depew, N.Y./Depew), May and
Luz Mota (Bronx, N.Y./University Heights) rounding out the squad which finished in seventh place (1:56.09) to earn two points.
Rice added a strong individual performance as well, finishing fourth in the 800-meter run. Her time of 2:22.12 picked up five more points on the track for coach Seth Yernye's squad.
Another fourth-place finish came from freshman
Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) who picked up five points in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 19:57.48.
Daemen's lone points in field events came from the team's top thrower, sophomore
Toria Williams (Buffalo, N.Y./Medaille College). Williams finished in third place in the shot put. Her long toss of 11.98 meters earned Daemen's six remaining points to round out their scoring.
Daemen is back in action next Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Colgate University Invitational. The meet, which represents the Wildcats' final tune up for the East Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship (Feb. 20-21), begins at 12 p.m.The Wildcats are back
