UAlbany Men Win Fourth Straight America East Indoor Track Crown

Kamilah McShine captures top athlete honors with pentathlon, 55-meter hurdle victories as women finish in second place overall

 

The University at Albany�s Jean Juste won the 55-meter hurdles for the third year in a row, as his team captured its fourth consecutive America East Conference men�s indoor track & field championship on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.  The Great Danes were second for the third time in the last four years in the women�s championship.

Juste, a defensive back on the UAlbany football team, sprinted 7.47 seconds to win the 55-hurdles title. The Great Danes, who had seven individual champions and won two took relays, were first in the team standings by 73 points over second-place Binghamton. UAlbany scored 211 total points, breaking its own previous standard of 203.5 set in 2007.

Nasim Siddeeq was first in the triple jump with an NCAA-provisional mark and an America East meet record leap of 51-feet, 4.25-inches. Siddeeq, who became sixth UAlbany athlete in as many years to win the event, was named the Most Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet. Michael McCadney also went over 50 feet (50-10.75) to place second.  Tyler Fogarty set a school record in winning the 1,000-meter run in 2:24.86, while John Moore was second.

"The men take great pride in winning this championship," said UAlbany coach Roberto Vives, a member of the America East Coaching Staff of the Year for the fourth time in his career. "We just keep getting better and better, and there were many outstanding performances. The women pushed Boston U. as far as they could. We are a young team."

Alie Beauvais reached the finish line first in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:03.40 and helped the victorious 4x400m relay establish a conference record. A transfer from Lincoln (Mo.) University, Beauvais teamed with Andrew Overbaugh, Joe Greene and Jeffery Barnes to run the relay in 3:11.77, breaking a mark that had stood since 2003. In addition, Greene was second at 400-meters with an NCAA-provisional and school record time of 47.15.

Aaron Lozier ran to victory in the 800-meter run and was clocked in 1:52.69. Lozier also competed on the 4x800m relay that placed second in a school-record time of 7:37.57 and was fourth in the mile run. Luke Schoen (pole vault), Wilfredo de Jesus Elias (weight throw) and the distance medley relay picked up wins on Friday�s opening day of competition.

In the women�s meet, Kamilah McShine was a winner in the 55-meter hurdles for the fourth consecutive year.  McShine, who won the pentathlon on Friday, hit the tape in a meet-record 7.93 seconds. She was also a member of the winning 4x400m relay, along with Jenn Gurrant, Zuliana Fontanez and Fey Adaramola. The relay was timed in 3:48.48, just two-hundredths of a second off the existing meet record. McShine, who scored 22 points in the championship, was chosen the Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet.

Adaramola set a school standard in winning the 200m dash in 24.30 seconds. The Central Florida transfer added a fourth-place finish in the 55-dash. The Great Danes, who had five individual winners, scored 141.50 and were 17 points behind champion Boston University.

Gurrant, who was third in the long jump competition the previous day, took the triple jump with a leap of 41-0.25.  Ritshell Verdier won her second conference indoor shot put crown with a toss of 44-9.75. Melissa Lee was second at 500-meters in 1:15.05.

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