The Plattsburgh State indoor track and field team performed strongly, both individually and collectively, at the Ithaca Bomber Invitational on Feb. 3-4. Many participating athletes got a taste of the competition that they will encounter at the SUNYAC Championships at the College at Brockport on Feb. 23-24.
Michael Warchol, a junior, ran a personal-best time of 1:58:19 in the 800-meter middle-distance running event. Although he celebrated the feat initially, Warchol believes he can be even faster in the Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Feb. 9-10.
“I ran my fastest time for indoor track, so I’m happy with that, but I have definitely got more in the tank,” Warchol said. “I’m looking to get at least three or four seconds faster for Indoor and then see what happens for outdoor.”
Warchol also identified specific techniques that he can improve upon in time for the next meet to achieve a quicker running time.
“I think I need to get out a little faster in the race to have a better start and my finish-positioning because Indoor Track is hard for a tall guy to get positioning, so those are little things I can work on.”
Elisabeth Plympton, a sophomore, also performed well in the Ithaca Bomber Invitational. She finished second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.82 seconds and first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.70 seconds. Like Warchol, Plympton wasn’t entirely satisfied with her performance and outlined improvements that she can make.
“I definitely need to fix my blocks and just get more focused and focus on myself rather than other people around,” Plympton said.
Freshman Mikayla Rossier and sophomore Anthony Ciccarelli both qualified for the SUNYAC Championship meet.
Rossier posted 2,500 points in the pentathlon by throwing 30 feet, 2.9 inches in the shot put, running 12.27 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles and through other events. Ciccarelli scored 4,079 points in the heptathlon by jumping 5 feet, 6.14 inches in the high jump, running 9.38 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and by other various events.
Other standouts include: Jordan Kane, who finished sixth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.83 seconds, Alex Hepburn, who finished 10th in the high jump with a jumping height of 5 feet, 10.07 inches and Zach Grandy, who placed ninth in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:10:30.
A positive factor in the overall success of the Cardinals as a team and that of each individual athlete, has been constant support and teamwork. Head coach Nick Jones strives to instill these qualities in everyone of his athletes and doesn’t understate their importance.
“It’s super important that everyone’s working together to achieve a common goal of getting better in their individual events, so we do better as a team to move ourselves up SUNYAC,” Jones said. “Support is definitely important. If someone doesn’t have the greatest day, they know that it’s just one competition and that we make improvements and adjustments to be better the next time around.”
Jones and the rest of the PSUC track and field team will use these attributes to achieve both individual and team success at the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University on Feb. 9-10.
Email Nate Mundt at sports@cardinalpointsonline.com
