Gators break 4 x 800 relay, 100 meter run marks on opening day of Empire 8 Championship
Rochester, NY – The Sage Colleges' women's and men's track and field teams opened competition on Friday at St. John Fisher College in the 2018 Empire 8 Championship. The two-day championship will wrap on Saturday.
In the women's competition, the Utica College has a narrow one point lead over Stevens Institute of Technology, 27-26, while Sage is in sixth place with four points. The Men's Championship finds Utica with 28 points and in first after one day of competition.
Head coach Zachary Williams commented after the meet, "We finished our season at the Empire 8 Championship over the weekend, and we continued our season's theme of breaking school records. This time Tari Thompson fully broke the women's 100m record, which she had previously equaled." He continued, "Sevi Travis and Amanda Jones had the honor of being our first athletes to score points in our new conference, which they accomplished in the 3000m steeplechase, the first event of the championship. Now that we've finally tested the waters of our new conference, we know what we need to do in the seasons to come, to be even more competitive on this bigger stage."
Sage's women's team in the 4 x 800 meter relay shattered the school record with their performance on Friday as they finished in sixth place with a time of 11:29.47. On the relay were junior Victoria Opalka (Fort Johnson, NY/Broadalbin-Perth), rookie Olivia Leonard (Waterford, NY/Waterford-Halfmoon), junior captain Sagan Leggett (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane), and sophomore Amanda Jones (West Sand Lake, NY/Columbia). The Gator lineup broke the old mark of 12:26.14, which was set in 2016.
Rookie Sevi Travis (Cohoes, NY/Shaker) posted a time of 13:28.00 to finish in fifth in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase, while Jones picked up sixth in 13:47.73.
In the 100 meter dash, rookie Tariziana Thompson (Brussels, BE/Brussels American) posted a time of 13.09 to qualify for the finals. Rookie Avian Pope (New York, NY/Manhattan Center for Science and Math) had a preliminary time of 13.58 but did not advance to the finals. The time in the prelims for Thompson broke Sage's school record for the 100 meter run as she bettered the time set in 2016 by Nysia Irby (13.35).
For Sage's men's team did not have student-athletes in action on Friday, but will take to the track on Saturday.
