This past weekend head coach Chris Fox split his team in thirds with some resting before the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, some making the trek west to Stanford for the Payton Jordan Invitational, and others remaining local, competing at Cornell.

The small group that went to Stanford competed with national contenders, and many professionals running for sponsored teams including Nike and Adidas. Justyn Knight made a splash, breaking his own Syracuse 5,000-meter run record with a time of 13:27.23 to finish 10th at the invitational, but third among collegiate athletes.

Another SU record nearly fell as Adam Palamar missed the 800-meter record by 0.02 seconds. Despite finishing 23rd among all athletes in the 10,000-meters, Colin Bennie’s time of 28:52.72 placed him third among collegiate athletes in the event.

Locally, Syracuse competed with the likes of Cornell, Ithaca, Cortland, and some smaller local universities. The 1,500-meters went well for both Syracuse’s men and women, especially on the women’s side where the Orange took five of the top nine spots in the race. Seniors Maura Linde (4:39.37) and Bridget Twomey (4:43.46) led the way for the Orange, finishing second and third, respectively. Rebecca Skodis, Chelsie Pennello, and Mary Malone also cracked the top 10.

The men also took a second- and third-place finish as sophomore Nick Ryan (3:55.51) and redshard freshman TJ Hornberger (4:03.32) found the podium. LaZyrick Middlebrooks found the podium for the first time this season as he finished seventh in the 400-meters in 50.53 seconds.

Syracuse added three more podium finishes in the jumps. Jabari Butler cleared 2.00 meters and Randall Johnson jumped 1.90 meters, finishing fifth and seventh respectively in the high jump. In the long jump, Pascal Bastien finishing sixth with a 6.85-meter mark.

The Orange ended the day with victories in the men’s 800-meters and 5,000-meters. Paul Lovell and Kevyn Hoyos each found the top of the podium for the first time this season with Lovell winning the 800-meters in 1:52.51 and Hoyos taking the 5K in 14:31.41.

Fox will now have until May 13 to prepare his team for the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships taking place at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Published on May 2, 2016 at 7:57 am

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu