ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's track and field team posted a fifth-place showing at the East Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships held this afternoon on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College. The host Redhawks claimed the team championship for the third-straight year.
The fifth place showing tied for highest finish for the Daemen women since the Wildcats began competing at the championships in 2013. Daemen, which finished sixth last spring, improved its point total by 32 points from last year. The Wildcats accumulated 73 points—finishing just 11 points behind fourth place District of Columbia.
Sophomore Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) and freshmen Kyra Kress (Wayland, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central) both claimed individual titles for the Wildcats. Trabert kicked off the day by placing first in the 10,000 meter run with a conference-record time of 40:10.13. Trabert knocked 1:30 off the previous record and finished 44 seconds ahead of runner-up Kaitlin O'Grady—who set the previous conference record (41:40.87) at last year's championship—of St. Thomas Aquinas College. It will also go in the books as a Daemen record, as this was the first time a Daemen runner has participated in the 10,000-meter run. Kress placed first in the pole vault (2.75 meters) and also posted a top-ten finish in the 400 meter hurdles (1:14.94).
Junior Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) took part in the 1,500 meter run and finished fourth with a time of 4:52.05—just four seconds off the school-record time (4:48.52) she posted at the Westminster Invitational last weekend. Donahue and Trabert were the top two seeds in the 5,000-meter run, but both student-athletes were healthy scratches. Both will be taking part in the prestigious Penn Relays next weekend, an invitation-only event.
Freshman Tiffany Cycon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) set a school-record in both the 100 and 200-meter dash this afternoon. She posted a school-record time of 12.69 during the 100-meter preliminary round, eclipsing her own school-record time of 12.95 she set at the Westminster Invitational last weekend. She nearly equaled her record time in the finals, as she went on to place eighth with a time of 12.70. Cycon finished ninth in the 200 with a time of 26.45, once agin breaking her own school-record of 26.81 she set at the ROC City Classic on April 11. Fellow rookie Sam Carro (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy) also posted a school-record today, as she placed eighth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.61. That time eclipsed the previous record of 17.48 set by Morgan Stefanik at the 2013 Rochester Spring Invitational.
Junior Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) finished third in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:50.18. Freshman Carrie Akin (Akron, N.Y./Akron) added to Daemen's point total with a sixth-pace showing in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:13.06, while classmate Sydney McDonough (Alfred Station, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central) placed eighth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.10.
Daemen's relay teams all fared well. The 4x800 team consisting of seniors Brittany Denton (Oakfield, N.Y./Oakfield-Alabama) and Brooke Nolan (Depew, N.Y./Depew), sophomore Katherine Robinson (Pasadena, Calf./Pasadena) and freshman Lindsey Wood (Newfield, N.Y./Newfield) placed third with a time of 10:10.82. The 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams both placed fourth. The 4x100 team of Carro, Cycon, junior Leah May (Palmyra, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon) and freshmen Rachel Roberson (Tonawanda, N.Y./Sweet Home) posted a time of 51.84, while the 4x400 meter relay team of Cycon, Kress, McDonough and Roberson posted a time of 4:15.77.
The field events featured a school-record effort by May in the long jump, as the junior posted a jump of 4.81 meters—which bested the previous record of 4.75 set by Roberson last weekend. Freshman Ellory Roberts (Lowville, N.Y./Lowville Academy) earned 12 points for Daemen after she placed fourth in the shot put (9.57 meters), hammer throw (30.98m) and the discus (28.81m). Fellow rookie Emily Johnson (Franklinville, N.Y./Franklinville Central) placed second in discus (30.45m) and also placed fifth in the hammer (28.46m).
Daemen returns to action next weekend when it takes part in the University at Buffalo Invitational.
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