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Daemen University Athletics

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Adrian Kraus

Men's Track and Field Places Sixth at ECC Indoor Championships

Matthews Sets Two School Records

2/20/2023 12:24:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Daemen University men's track and field team finished sixth out of eight teams at the 2023 East Coast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships held tonight at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.

Daemen recorded 29 team points. Georgian Court University and Holy Family University both recorded 143 points and were declared co-champions. Roberts Wesleyan University (89), St. Thomas Aquinas College (80) and Molloy University (60) rounded out the top five.

Graduate student Erik Matthews (Galway, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats tonight, as he posted a school-record in both the 60-meter hurdles and the 400 meter dash. He accounted for eight of the team's 29 points. Junior Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) also turned in a solid night, as he posted a top five finish in both the mile and the 1,000 meters.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Matthew posted a school-record in the first event of the night, as he placed third out of eight entrants in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.69 seconds. He actually broke the record in the preliminary round with a time of 8.81 seconds—eclipsing the previous record of 8.92 seconds he set at the 2021 Houghton Indoor Meet. Matthews now owns all of the top 10 times in program history for the 60-meter hurdles.
  • Matthews later took part in the 400 meters and placed fifth out of 13 runners with a school-record time of 51.05 seconds—eclipsing the previous record of 51.39 set by Alonzo Rodriguez-Spencer at the 2018 Highlander Invitational.
  • O'Brien was the lone Daemen runner in the mile and he placed fifth out of 10 runners with a time of 4:42.60—just four seconds shy of his personal best time (4:38.87) he set at the Nazareth Alumni Invitational earlier this year. O'Brien would go on to place fifth in the 1,000 meters with a personal best time of 2:41.95—eclipsing his previous best time of 2:43.58 he posted at the YSU Mid Major Invitational earlier this year.
  • Senior Dominic Clementi (Barker, N.Y.) also ran the 1,000 meters and placed fourth with a personal best time of 2:41.46—eclipsing his previous best effort of 2:42.02 he set at the Nazareth Alumni Invitational earlier this year.
  • Senior John Bruggman (Batavia, N.Y.) and junior Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) also posted top five efforts tonight. Bruggman placed fifth in the 800 meters (2:08.22), while Moote finished fifth in the 3,000 meters (9:14.79).
  • Freshman Josh Trometer (Lancaster, N.Y.) took part in both the 800 and 1,000 meters. He placed sixth in the 800 with a personal best time of 2:09.50 and ran the 1,000 for the first time in his brief career and placed seventh (9:45.89).
  • Juniors Steven Blatto (Lancaster, N.Y.) and David Schwinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) and senior Alexander Reynolds (Olean, N.Y.) all ran the 5,000 meters. Blatto placed sixth (16:23.06) and Schwinger finished eighth (16:52.29), while Reynolds finished 13th with a personal best time of 18:07.07.
  • Sophomore Samir Laroussi (Clarence, N.Y.) posted a personal best time in both the 400 meters (56.26) and the 200 meters (24.37). Junior Laertes Cushing (Alfred, N.Y.) recorded a personal best time in the 800 meters (2:14.63), while sophomore John Balch (Saranac, N.Y.) posted a personal best time in the 3,000 meters (10:06.76).
  • Junior Tyrell Whitaker (Lancaster, N.Y.) ran the 200 and posted a personal best time in for an indoor event (24.35).
  • Sophomore Nolan Robillard (Hamburg, N.Y.) was one of five Daemen runners in the 800 meters and placed third among Daemen runners and eighth overall with a time of 2:11.15.
  • Junior Phil Ceccarelli (Hamburg, N.Y.) was the lone Daemen runner in the 500 meters and he placed 12th with a time oif 1:10.81.
  • Sophomore Hayden Grover (Alden, N.Y.) took part in three events. He posted a personal best time at an indoor event for the 200-meter dash (26.11) and ran the 60-meter dash in 7.92 seconds. He also posted a leap of 4.58 meters in the long jump.
  • Juniors Hessen Bahgat (Fredonia, N.Y.) and Jake Carroll (Rochester, N.Y.) both took part in the shot put and the weight throw. Bahgat posted a personal best toss of 10.64 meters and placed eighth in shot put. He also finished eighth in the weight throw (10.94 meters). Carroll placed ninth in both the shot put (10.42 meters) and the weight throw (10.42 meters).
  • Daemen's 4,000 medley relay team of Clementi, Ceccarelli, Bruggman and Moote placed third with a time of 10:51.50.
  • Daemen's 4x400 relay team of Matthews, Ceccarelli, Whitaker and Clementi placed sixth with a time of 3:37.61.
UP NEXT
Daemen's 2023 outdoor track & field schedule will be released soon. 
 

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.

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