Men's Track & Field Places Third at UB Spring Opener

Moote Posts A School-Record Time In The 3,000 Meters

4/9/2023 10:42:00 AM

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

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen University men's track and field team placed third out of six teams at the University at Buffalo Spring Opener held Saturday at UB Stadium.

The meet featured Division I, II and III programs from throughout the area. UB totaled 297points and placed first, following by Buffalo State University (156), Daemen (65), Canisius College (41), Hilbert College (10) and Bryant & Stratton (1).

A school-record effort by junior Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) in the 3,000 meters and three top-five efforts by graduate student Erik Matthews (Galway, N.Y.) highlighted the day for the Wildcats.

HIGHLIGHTS

Moote, who already owned both the indoor and outdoor school-record for the 3,000 meters, broke his own school record and placed 12^th out of 32 runners with a time of 8:43.94. He knocked 21 seconds off his previous record of 9:04.13 that he set at this event last year.
Matthews took part in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles and the long jump. The school-record holder in both the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles, he placed third in the 110-meter hurdles (16.15 seconds) and first in the 400-meter hurdles (56.99 seconds). His time in the 110-meter hurdles ranks as the third fastest in program history, while his time in the 400 meters hurdles ranks as the fourth fastest in program history. Matthews owns all 10 of the top-10 110 meter hurdle times in program history—including his program record time of 16.09 that he posted at the Geneseo Early Season Invitational last year. Matthews also owns all 10 of the top-10 400 meter hurdle times in program history—including his program record time of 56.08 that he posted at the 2022 East Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Matthews capped his day by placing fourth out of 10 in the long jump with a leap of 6.31 meters.
Moote was one of 11 Daemen runners to take part in the 3,000 meters. Junior Steven Blatto (Lancaster, N.Y.), freshman Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and junior Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) all placed in the top-25. Blatto posted his best-ever time at an outdoor event (9:21.89) and placed 22^nd. His time ranks as the third fastest in program history. Kincaid and O'Brien both ran the 3,000 at an outdoor event for the first time and placed 24^th (9:32.61) and 25^th (9:33.76) respectively. Kincaid's time ranks fifth fastest in program history, while O'Brien's is the seventh fastest.
Daemen had five runners in the 800 meters. Senior Dominic Clementi (Barker, N.Y.) placed first among Daemen runners and 11^th overall with a time of 2:00.13.
Juniors Jake Carroll (Rochester, N.Y.) and Hessen Bahgat (Fredonia, N.Y.) both took part in the shot put and discus. Carroll placed fifth in the shot put (10.77 meters) and fourth in the discus (29.99 meters). Bahgat placed seventh in the shot put (9.76 meters), fifth in the discus (28.05 meters). Bahgat also took part in the javelin and placed fifth with a throw of 36.62 meters. Sophomore Jake Elias (Depew, N.Y.) placed fourth in the hammer throw (34.47 meters).

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to action next Saturday (April 15) when they take part in Brockport Outdoor Multi on the campus of SUNY Brockport.

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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