The Plattsburgh State track and field team closed the indoor season finishing 13th and 16th, for the men’s and women’s team respectively, in the AARTFC Championships hosted by Nazareth College last Saturday and transitioned into the outdoor season although the remainder of the season is now in question.
Freshmen Brendyn Marrero, Cameron Aviles, Brexton Montville and Jared Davidson came in second for the 4×200-meter relay, with the time of 1:30.21, edging first-place Rowan University by 0.23 second.
“It’s the best rally on the men’s side in a while,” head coach Nick Jones said.
Marrero said the team was excited about the 4×200-meter relay result. He believes the team will be able to break the program record in the next indoor season and is taking the drive to keep breaking records as motivation moving forward.
“Recovery was fine. I was just very happy about the experience. Me and my team still talk about how we’re still only freshmen and ranked second. It shows that we have a lot of potential,” Aviles said.
Davidson finished sixth for the 200-meter dash with the time of 22.63. Marrero came in eight for the 60-meter dash while senior Andrew Horan finished eighth for the mile run with the time of 7.17 and 4:21.71 respectively.
Aviles said he did not perform like he wanted at the beginning of the season due to some sickness but the indoor season ended on a high note for him. Throughout the season, he had to adjust his training to better fit him and he put in more effort in running to increase his endurance in races.
Senior Anthony Ciccarelli placed sixth in the heptathlon with the total score of 4,360 points. For the component events, Ciccarelli topped shot put (11.56 meters), finish third in the 60-meter hurdles (8.91 seconds), fourth in the 60-meter dash (7.38 seconds), seventh in the pole vault (3.63 meters – 11’ 10.75”), seventh in the 1,000-meter run (2:57.49), eighth in long jump (5.95 meters) and eleventh in high jump (1.62 meters).
For the women’s team, senior Brianna Coon came in fifth for the weight throw with the mark of 15.40 meters. Sophomore Kristen Boerke finished fourth for the pentathlon with a total of 2,872 points. Boerke topped the long jump (5.05 meters), came in third for the high jump (1.5 meters), fourth in 800-meter run (2:37.51), fifth in 60-meter hurdles (9.95) and ninth in shot put (7.31 meters).
The team of senior Elisabeth Plympton, graduate student Kallie Villemaire, junior Janyll Barber and senior Taylor Canet placed seventh for the 4×200-meter relay with the time of 1:46.81.
While recovering from the AARTFC Championships and training for the outdoor season, Marrero is also recovering from illness.
“I can’t even breathe well right now, so running, especially [the 400-meter dash], that’s gonna be hell,” Marrero said. “The last time I ran [the 400-meter dash], it was my best time but I can barely breathe after, and I collapse after.”
Marrero is optimistic about recovering for the outdoor season. He took last week off to recover from regionals and will resume his practice during spring break.
Aviles will be following the workout schedule sent by the coach and run more and focus some time on weightlifting to prepare for 400-meter dash and 4x400meter relay.
For Marrero, he planned to work on improving his running skills, such as starts, over the spring break.
“I’m gonna go to my high school track team to run a little, brag a little. I’m not gonna lie,” Marrero said.
After spring break, the Cardinals were to start their outdoor season competing in the Saints Spring Breaker Open at St. Lawrence University, but it is cancelled as all SUNYs move classes to distance learning for the semester.
Email Kai Bing Ang at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
