The Canisius indoor track team completed one of its most successful weekends in recent memory, breaking two school records and posting 23 new times on the Golden Griffin all-time lists.
Junior Carlin Sullivan broke a Canisius record in the women’s 5k event with a time of 17:46.9, while the women’s distance medley relay team of Sullivan, junior Haylie Virginia, senior Haley Keene and sophomore Siobhan Quinn set a school best mark finishing at 12:19.30.
Senior Anna Phillips also broke the previous school record in the 5k event, placing two spots behind Sullivan at 17:49.38, while both Griffs became the first indoor runners to crack the 18-minute barrier in the event in school history.
“From the opening event on Friday, to the relays concluding completion today, this was one of our best all-around meets in the four years since we reintroduced track at Canisius College,” said head coach Nate Huckle. “Our teams ran aggressively and with purpose, and it resulted in two school records, four IC4A qualifying times and 23 new marks on our all-time lists.”
Senior Cooper Roach ran to one of the IC4A qualifying times with his first-place performance in 3k event, finishing at 8:20.38, while also qualifying for the IC4A’s as part of the men’s distance medley relay A team of senior Xavier Sauvageau, senior A.J. Stuver and sophomore Josh Sopchak that finished second overall with a time of 10:02.05.
“The men’s DMR (A team) ran the third fastest time in in school history, finishing second to Detroit Mercy. Cooper Roach was out kicked in the last 100 meters of the race by Detroit’s Ben Kendall. Roach, however, would have his revenge on the second day of completion in the 3k. After sitting on Kendall for nine of ten laps, Roach shifted gears and pulled past him on the final stretch for the win.”
Also qualifying for the IC4A’s were senior Jeff Antolos in the 5k event and the distance medley relay B team of senior Brennan Root, sophomore Paul Henry, freshman Marcus Brown and freshman Donny Glavin.
Antolos placed second in the 5k with a time of 14:37.95, only .18 seconds behind the first-place finisher, while the distance medley relay B team finished third behind their teammates at 10:19.27.
“We took advantage of the outstanding facility and strong competition, and our student-athletes built up a nice head of steam for our approach to the MAAC Championships,” added Huckle.
The Griffs will now set their focus on the Kane Invitational, which will be run Feb. 12 from Ithaca.
Siobhan Quinn raced well in the women’s DMR finishing under five minutes for the Blue and Gold at 4:59 in the 1600-meter leg. Antolos now has the second-best time in the men’s 5k event for the MAAC this year, while Sullivan ranks fifth in the women’s 5k. Roach’s time in the 3k was the fourth best in the MAAC this season. The men’s DMR A team finish was the second-best in the conference this year. Other strong performances included Root and Sauvageau finishing fourth and sixth respectively in the 3k (8:30.77, 8:35.02), Sopchak placing sixth in the 800 meter (1:57.13) and freshman Nicholas Spinosa who placed ninth in 500-meter dash (1:10.044).
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
