Wildcats Sweep ECC's Weekly Track & Field Honors

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Men's Track & Field | 5/1/2018 11:56:00 AM

AMHERST, N.Y. - Track and field athletes from Daemen College have accounted for all four of the East Coast Conference's weekly awards for competitions held April 23-29. Freshman Alonzo Rodriguez-Spencer (Buffalo, N.Y.) was named the ECC Men's Track Athlete of the Week, while senior Shaquille Corrica (New York City, N.Y.) was named the ECC Men's Field Athlete of the Week. Junior Tiffany Cycon (Lancaster, N.Y.) earned ECC Women's Track Athlete of the Week honors, and classmate Carrie Akin (Akron, N.Y.) was named the ECC Women's Field Athlete of the Week. The announcement of the accolades was made in the ECC's weekly sport report which was released today from conference headquarters in West Babylon, N.Y.

Despite less than ideal weather conditions, all four athletes made an impact in the Wildcats' penultimate meet of the season, the University at Buffalo Invitational held last Saturday, April 28 at UB Stadium, doing so in a meet that featured several Division I teams.

Rodriguez-Spencer was the lone first-place finisher for the Daemen men, doing so in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.63 seconds. That time was just off the school record pace of 51.14 seconds set by Niko Jemmison at the 2014 ECC Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet. Rodriguez-Spencer has now placed fifth or better in the last three meets that he's entered the 400 meter dash, dating back to the Cortland Please Stop Snowing Invitational on April 13.

Corrica had a solid showing in jumping events, placing second in the long jump (5.69 meters) and fourth in the triple jump (11.99 meters). The dual-sport athlete, who also competed in three seasons for the Daemen men's soccer team, is in his first season with the track and field squad. He already holds school records in both the long (6.67 meters) and triple jumps (12.69 meters) set earlier this season.

Rodriguez-Spencer and Corrica become just the fifth and sixth Daemen men to earn weekly accolades from the ECC during the outdoor track and field season. Rodriguez-Spencer is only the second athlete to earn the honor on the track, and the first since Brett Smith for the week of March 25-31, 2013. Corrica's selection is the fifth all-time for Daemen among field athletes, and the first since teammate Zach Laird (Alexander, N.Y.) did so in back-to-back weeks early last season.

On the women's side, Cycon posted a pair of top-five finishes in sprinting events. She placed fourth in the 100 meter dash (12.75 seconds) and fifth in the 200 meter dash (26.62 seconds). The veteran sprinter has now totaled seven top-five finishes during the 2018 outdoor campaign.

Akin posted the lone first-place finish for the Wildcat women, doing so in the triple jump with a long leap of 10.76 meters which also eclipsed teammate Katja Meyer's (Verona, N.Y.) school record (10.59 meters). It marked the third time this season that the school triple jump record has been broken.

Cycon and Akin become just the second and third Daemen women to earn weekly accolades from the ECC during the outdoor track and field season. They join former Daemen great Mackenzie Donahue who surprisingly was just a one-time ECC Track Athlete of the Week (April 10-16, 2017).

The four honorees will lead Daemen back into competition at the Allegheny Gator Invite in Meadville, Pa. on Friday, May 11. Several Daemen athletes will be looking to achieve provisional qualifying marks to place themselves in contention for an opportunity to compete at the upcoming NCAA Division II National Championship meet.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen College track and field program, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenTrack on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

Zach Laird: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Mackenzie Donahue: 5' 2"; Junior

Tiffany Cycon: 5' 5"; Freshman

Niko Jemmison: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Carrie Akin: 5' 5"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Zach Laird
: 5' 11"; Sophomore

Mackenzie Donahue
: 5' 2"; Junior

Tiffany Cycon
: 5' 5"; Freshman

Niko Jemmison
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Carrie Akin
: 5' 5"; Freshman