Geoff Schneider

Kamagate's School-Record Effort In The 300 Paces Daemen At The Houghton December Classic

12/2/2023 9:57:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

HOUGHTON, N.Y. - The Daemen University men's track and field team opened its 2023-24 indoor season by taking part in the Houghton December Classic held Friday night (Dec. 1) at the Kerr-Pegula Field House on the campus of Houghton University.

A school-record effort by sophomore Adam Kamagate (Hilton, N.Y.) in to 300-meter dash highlighted the evening for the Wildcats.

HIGHLIGHTS

Kamagate took part in the 300 meters for just the second time in his brief career and placed 12^th out of 49 runners with a school-record time of 37.64 seconds. The effort eclipsed the previous standard of 38.13 seconds set by Niko Jemmison at the Highlander Invitational on Jan. 20, 2017.
Daemen entered eight runners in the 800 meters and six finished among the Top-10. Senior Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) was first among the Daemen runners and placed fifth out of 28 entrants with a time of 2:02.18, which ranks as his best indoor time for the 800 meters. Fellow senior Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) ran the 800 at an indoor event for the first time in his career and placed sixth with a time of 2:04.83. Freshman CJ Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) had a solid debut, as he placed seventh with a time of 2:04.96. Sophomore Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) placed eighth (2:09.28), freshman Ethan Keating (Wooster, Ohio) finished ninth (2:09.63) and senior Steven Blatto (Lancaster, N.Y.) came in 10^th (2:10.12).
Senior Phil Ceccarelli (Hamburg, N.Y.) was the top finisher among six Daemen entrants in the 600 meters, as he placed 16^th out of 34 runners with a time of 1:28.24—which ranks as the fourth fastest 600-meter time in program history.
Graduate student Alexander Reynolds (Olean, N.Y.) ran the mile and posted time of 5:32.91, while senior David Schwinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) took part in the 3,000 meters and recorded a time of 10:06.45.
Newcomer John Jaworski (Naperville, Ill.) had a solid debut. A graduate student who played four years of volleyball at Daemen, he took part in three events. He placed 16^th out of 53 sprinters in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.30 seconds and placed 10^th out of 71 runners in the 200 meters with a time of 23.62 seconds. He also took part in the long jump and placed 30^th out of 44 with a leap of 5.76 meters.
Freshman sprinters Seth Connery (North Tonawanda, N.Y.), Giorden Martin (Rochester, N.Y.), Owen Dernbach (Alden, N.Y.), Mike Swartz (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) and Meron Daniel (Buffalo, N.Y.) all made their collegiate debuts. Connery placed 33^rd in the 60-meter dash (7.44) and 14^th in the 200 meters (24.00). Martin was 40^th(7.54) and Dernbach was 50^th (7.76) in the 60, while Swartz was 56^th in the 200 (26.06). Daniel posted a 7.97 in the 60.
Freshman thrower Michael Christensen (Grand Island, N.Y.) had a solid collegiate debut. He posted a Top-10 effort in the weight throw, as his toss of 14.60 meters was good enough for ninth place among 50 entrants. That mark also ranks as the third-best throw in program history, trailing just the 15.42 and 15.22 efforts by Sullivan Keller in 2020 and 2021. Christensen also placed 43^rd out of 63 in the shot put (10.23 meters).
Daemen's 4,000 medley relay team of Ceccarelli, Blatto, Johnson and senior Laertes Cushing (Alfred, N.Y.) placed second out of five teams with a time of 11.22.81.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to action next Saturday (Dec. 9) when they head Utica (N.Y.) University to take part in the Utica Holiday Classic. The teams were originally scheduled to take part in the SPIRE College Holiday Classic at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, but that event was canceled.

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
Follow the Daemen men's track & field program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF.

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