ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The 5,000 meter run was the top event of the day for the Daemen College women's outdoor track and field team which continued its 2016 season at yesterday's ROC City Classic hosted by Nazareth College at Golden Flyer Stadium.
Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora),
Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) and
Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) all came through with top-five finishes in the event to lead the Wildcats.
Donahue, the unquestioned top distance runner on the team, finished second after crossing the finish line with a time of 17:56.41. She was one of two runners to complete the race in less than 18 minutes, finishing behind Kerry Caher (unattached) who came in with a time of 17:21.93. Her time set a new team record in the event, surpassing her own previous mark of 18:21.72 set last season at the Bob Kahn Invite hosted by Oberlin College.
Trabert was next in for the Wildcats, finishing in fourth place with a time of 18:30.96. Cheff came in six seconds later (18:36.96) to finish in fifth place.
Freshman sprinters
Tiffany Cycon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and
Sydney McDonough (Alfred Station, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central) also fared well for the Wildcats. Cycon finished fifth in the 100 meter dash (13.00 seconds) and sixth in the 200 meter dash (26.81 seconds). Her 200 meter dash time broke the previous team record (27.33 seconds) set by Katie Gross at this same event in 2014. McDonough was the eighth-place finisher in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:03.89.
In mid-distance races, the Wildcats picked up top-10 finishes from
Katherine Robinson (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena) and
Brooke Nolan (Depew, N.Y./Depew) who finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 800 meter run. Robinson (2:28.55) edged out Nolan (2:29.02) by less than a second.
In field events, freshman
Kyra Kress (Wayland, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central) cleared 2.85 meters in the pole vault to finish in a tie for seventh. She also competed on the track, coming in 11th in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:11.34.
Ashley Krol (Depew, N.Y./Depew) earned a seventh place finish in the long jump with a leap of 4.99 meters.
Ellory Roberts (Lowville, N.Y./Lowville) was the lone thrower to compete for the Wildcats as well. She finished 14th in the discus (28.91 meters) and 20th in shot put (8.84 meters).
The Wildcats are back in action at this weekend's Westminster Invitational.
