Syracuse racers set personal bests in Boston

Multiple Syracuse track and field racers set personal bests this weekend at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, MA.

The women began the weekend with two top performances. Aja Davis won the 60-meter dash by 0.12 and Dasia Pressley (23.98) finished third in the 200-meter.

Annie Heffernan (9:36.35), Abigail Spiers (9:46.90), Justus Holden-Betts (10:02.29), and Emily Nugent (10:05.25) represented the Orange in the 3000-meter run.

On the men’s side, Iliass Aouani ran a 4:00.07 mile. Originally from Milan, Aouani broke the Italian record for the men’s mile. He was not, however, representing Syracuse. The graduate student is limited to one season of outdoor eligibility and raced under the title of unattached. Aouani’s time earned him 12th place out of 400 runners.

Nathan Lawler led the pack in the 5000-meter race, crossing the line first at 14:03.09. Distance runner Joe Dragon beat his personal best in the 3000-meter race with an 8:00.28 time, earning him a 10th place finish.

Sprinters, Jamil Adams (8.17) and Naseem Smith (8.19) took sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 60-meter dash to conclude the day.

Next weekend the Orange will head to the Marc Deneault Invitational in Ithaca, NY. Both team’s final touch on the track before the ACC Indoor Championships.