Syracuse finishes strong in final tune-up before ACC Championships

Syracuse track stayed in New York this weekend, travelling to Ithaca for the Marc Deneault Invitational. This is the final meet before next weekend’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.

The women’s team continued its strong showings in the 60-meters dash as freshmen Aja Davis (7.50 seconds) and Dennisha Page (7.52) finished third and fourth respectively.

Dasia Pressley finished first in the 300-meters as the only sub-40 second finisher at 39.45 seconds. Her time is a new personal best, beating out her previous fastest time of 41.94 seconds.

Pressley wasn’t the only women’s runner who finished in first place, as four other runners also won their finals. Shaleah Colaire (1:21.59) got top spot in the 500-meters and 60-meter hurdles and Bearett Tarris (1:42.45) won the 600-meters. 

The distance runners also secured some wins for the Orange, with Kelsey Potts (5:14.56) and Abigail Walsh (5:15.54) finishing first and third, respectively. In the 3,000-meters, Kate Kemnitz (10:33.41), Emma Wilson (10:38.60) and Maggie Toczko (10:50.88) crossed the line in first, second and fourth, respectively. 

The men’s team also found success in a handful of races. Austin Rucker (1:08.24) finished first in the 500-meters, a full second before his competitors. In the 3000-meters, Silas Derfel secured top spot five seconds before the other runners with a time of 8:41.13. 

The 60-meter hurdles featured four Orange runners in the top six. Tyler Garland (8.00) won the event and was followed by Jamil Adams (8.08) in third, Naseem Smith (8.35) in fifth and Andrew Aguilera (8.40) in sixth.

After multiple first-place finishes the Orange head off to Indiana for next week’s ACC Championships.