The Oswego State men`s and women`s track and field teams kicked off the season at St. Lawrence University on Saturday, finishing 5th (of 10) on the men`s side and 5th (of 9) on the women`s, with 14 individuals achieving SUNYAC qualifying marks on opening day.
The men started out strong early, with senior captains Nick Montesano and Kyle Gilyard taking 3rd and 5th in the 5,000, respectively, with Montesano running a career-best time of 16:21.69.
Junior Nick Reinsdorf also set a career best in the 1,000-meter run, taking 2nd, while junior captain Steven DenBleyker took 5th, helping the team take 10 points from the event.
In the field events, freshman Adam Crumb jumped out to a mark of 6.21 meters (20' 4 1/2") on his first attempt of the day. That mark would hold up throughout the competition, taking 5th place.
In the relays, the men's 4x400 of Nick Reinsdorf, Andy Baldwin, Ryan Brennan, and Matt Wagenhauser qualified for the ECAC Championships, taking home 2nd with a time of 3:30.12. The time also currently ranks the group 4th within the SUNYAC.
On the women's side, senior captain Katie Bott picked up where she left off last season, winning the 1,000 in 3:13.66. Marissa Pariseau had a strong showing in the sprints, taking 2nd in the 500 before guiding the 4x200 meter relay (Harrigan, Boyce, Kudinov) to a 4th place finish in the group's first run of the year.
In the field events, all three Lakers made the final in the women's long jump, led by junior Kristen Harrigan, who's leap of 4.74 (15'6") was good enough to capture second place, with freshman Abbie Boyce trailing just 3" behind her, finishing in 4th place (4.66m 15'3.5"). Senior Emily Wild cleared a career best 1.55 m ( 5'1") taking 3rd in the high jump.
Other top scorers for the women included Emily Yerdon in the 5,000, finishing 2nd.
Oswego will return to action at 11 a.m. on Saturday when it takes part in the Hamilton Invite in Clinton, N.Y.
