3 THINGS TO KNOW HEADING INTO THE 2019-20 SEASON
1. The coaching staff has taken on a new structure as Judy Arlington shifts to director of cross country/track and field, and Pete Gratien assumes the role of head coach. Arlington has been with the program since 2016, and had served as interim head coach last season following the departure of Paul Lagno. Gratien, who spent time as a volunteer assistant with the program last spring, is a former NCAA Division II student-athlete (Le Moyne College) and the 2016 Buffalo News Men's Runner of the Year. The re-structuring of those positions was announced in June. Working under the leadership or Arlington and Gratien are assistant coaches Maggie Fuentes and Jason Cukierski. Fuentes returns for her sixth season with the program, and she'll work primarily with the team's throwers. Cukierski is a new hire, and he'll work primarily with the team's jumpers.
2. The coaching staff released the team's indoor schedule which features five meets, beginning Dec. 7 at the Brockport Open and culminating Feb. 22 at the East Coast Conference Championships. The Wildcats will open with a December meet for just the fourth time since adding an indoor season to the program in 2012, and it marks the second straight season that they'll open by visiting Brockport. Two January meets follow with the Wildcats partaking in the RIT Invitational on Jan. 18 and the Highlander Invitational on Jan. 24. They'll return to the Special Events and Recreation Center for the Brockport Alumni Invitational on Feb. 8, marking their final tune-up opportunity for the conference championship meet two weeks later. The ECC Championships return to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. for the fifth consecutive season. For any qualifying athletes, the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships is slated for March 13-14 in Birmingham, Ala.
3. The Wildcats return eight athletes total - five women, three men - who earned All-ECC honors last season. That group is headlined by senior pole vaulter Taylor Haude who has claimed the ECC pole vault title in each of the last two indoor seasons. Katja Meyer (second-team All-ECC: triple jump), Hannah Miller (second-team All-ECC: shot put) and Savannah Warner (second-team All-ECC: 800 meters) also return to anchor the Wildcat women's team. On the men's side, thrower Sullivan Keller and sprinter Rodney Corbin return to the fold. Keller has twice earned second-team All-ECC honors during the indoor season, both for performances in the shot put. Likewise, Corbin has earned second-team All-ECC accolades for the 60-meter dash in both of his first two collegiate seasons.
