Niko Jemmison bested his own 300-meter dash record today

Men's Track & Field 1/20/2017 11:05:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Wildcat Men Compete At Highlander Invitational

New Records Set In Distance Medley, 600-Meter Run, 300-Meter Dash

HOUGHTON, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's indoor track and field team saw records in the distance medley, 600-meter run and 300-meter dash fall today at the Highlander Invitational hosted by Houghton College at Kerr-Pegula Fieldhouse.

Seniors Matt VanDeMortel (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva), Nigel Cordulla (Cheektowaga, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) and Mike Capestrani (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) teamed with freshman Josh Bodnar (Fillmore, N.Y./Fillmore) to establish a new benchmark in the distance medley today. The group finished second (out of six teams) with a record-setting time of 11:04.39, besting the previous mark of 11:09.79 set at the 2015 conference championship meet.

VanDeMortel got into the record books individually with a time of 1:26.08 in the 600-meter run, finishing seventh out of 37 competitors.

Sprinter Niko Jemmison (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Generation) eclipsed his own record in the 300-meter dash, finishing 14th today with a time of 38.13 seconds. Jemmison's time bettered his previous benchmark (3.15 seconds) by just two-hundredths of a second. In addition to his 300-meter dash record, Jemmison owns team records in the 60-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, and is part of the record-holding 4x200-meter relay team.

Also on the track today, the Wildcats' 4x400-meter relay team finished fourth out of 12 competing teams with a time of 3:39.38. The team, comprised of Jemmison, VanDeMortel, Cordulla and redshirt-junior Justin Petrocy (Elma, N.Y./University at Buffalo), ran five seconds off the school-record pace (3:34.86) which was set during the 2013-14 season.

In field events, junior thrower Zach Laird (Alexander, N.Y./Alexander Central) had a long toss of 12.60 meters to finish fourth in the shot put. Teammate Jonathan Dygert (Springville, N.Y./Springville-Griffith) finished 13th in the 35-pound weight throw (10.57 meters) and 16th in the shot put (10.88 meters).

Sophomore Tanner Speer (Gasport, N.Y./Grand Island) added a 10th-place finish in the long jump, leaping 6.10 meters.

Today's meet marked the first team event of the 2016-17 season. Long distance runner Kevin Roginson (Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) was the lone athlete to compete this season prior to today, having been a participant in the 5,000-meter run field at the Boston University Season Opener meet back on Dec. 3. Roginson did not compete today.

Daemen continues its season at the Brockport Golden Eagle Multi and Invitational next Saturday, Jan. 28 with the meet slated to get underway beginning at 10 a.m.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen men's and women's track and field teams, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenTRACK on Twitter.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Mike Capestrani: 6' 1"; Junior

Nigel Cordulla: 5' 9"; Senior

Jonathan Dygert: 6' 0"; Senior

Niko Jemmison: 5' 10"; Senior

Zach Laird: 5' 11"; Junior

Kevin Roginson: 5' 10"; Junior

Tanner Speer: 5' 9"; Sophomore

Matt VanDeMortel: 5' 10"; Senior

Justin Petrocy: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Mike Capestrani: 6' 1"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Mike Capestrani
: 6' 1"; Junior

Nigel Cordulla
: 5' 9"; Senior

Jonathan Dygert
: 6' 0"; Senior

Niko Jemmison
: 5' 10"; Senior

Zach Laird
: 5' 11"; Junior

Kevin Roginson
: 5' 10"; Junior

Tanner Speer
: 5' 9"; Sophomore

Matt VanDeMortel
: 5' 10"; Senior

Justin Petrocy
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Junior

Mike Capestrani
: 6' 1"; Junior