Syracuse track and field begins indoor season at Virginia Tech Invitational

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Syracuse track and field began its indoor season Friday night with the Virginia Tech Invitational, a two-day event held in Blacksburg, Virginia. Runners from the men’s and women’s teams participated in the 3,000-meter, 5,000-meter and mile races.

In the women’s 3,000-meter race, Syracuse runners filled second through eighth place, with senior Jordan Jacob (9:58:03) finishing top among Orange runners. She was followed by Justus Holden-Betts (10:02.66), Abigail Spiers (10:08.38) and Olivia Elston (10:22.37) to round out the top five.

For the men’s 3,000-meter, freshman Ethan Wechsler (8:33.54) finished first among Syracuse runners, placing 7th overall. Sophomore Matthew Dragon (9:14.26) set a personal best.

No members of the Syracuse women’s team participated in the mile, but on the men’s team, freshman Gavin Richards (4:14.68) placed second, less than a second out of first place.

On Saturday, junior Amandi Vestri (16:09.96) placed first in the 5,000-meter race, nearly two minutes ahead of fellow Orange runner Ellie Lawler (18:05.62), who finished second.

Only Syracuse runners ran the men’s 5,000-meter. JP Trojan (14:20.58), Silas Derfel (14:27.84) and Matthew Scrape (14:33.10) filled out the top three. Derfel and Alex Comerford (14:33.86), who finished fourth, both set personal bests.

Syracuse doesn’t have any meets scheduled between now and the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships on February 25-27, but it may schedule more as the ACC fills out the remainder of the indoor track and field schedule.