A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta men's track & field team kicked off the new year in Virginia finishing second at the Kaye and JJ Smith Invitational hosted by Shenandoah University.  The Red Dragons collected 91.50 points overall in the one-day event.
 
The Inside Story
The Red Dragons came away from yesterday's competition with one individual event winner and nearly a dozen top-5 performances.
 
Posting individual victories on the day was senior Nicholas Grasso (Goshen/Burke Catholic) and freshman Brandon Martin (Syracuse/Central Square) who were winners of the 400 meters and 3K respectively.  Grasso recorded a time of 51.30 seconds in his win and Martin took his event crossing in 9:04.81.  Grasso also placed third later in the event in the 200-meter dash recording a time of 23.46 seconds.
 
In the 3K, Oneonta made it a 1-2-3 finish with freshman Andrew Rainbolt (Staten Island/Monsignor Farrell) (9:06.70) and senior Matthew Palmer (Schuylerville/Schuylerville) (9:09.81) finished right behind Martin.
 
Runner-up finishes were turned in by senior Griffin Arcuri (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) and junior Norberto Cervantes (Williamson/Williamson).  Arcuri was second in the shot put with 13.30 meters while Cervantes took second in the weight throw posting a mark of 17.16 meters.  Arcuri also had a fifth-place finish in the weight throw.  Cervantes' mark moved him into the top-5 nationally in Division III.
 
Other athletes who posted top-5 finishes in their individual events included junior Nick Michalowski (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) (60m hurdles, 3^rd), senior Isaiah Ruiz (Staten Island/Susan E. Wagner) (mile, 3^rd), sophomore Thaddeus Karaman (Sherburne/Sherburne-Earlville) (pole vault, 3^rd) and senior Thomas McNamee (Waterford/Shenendehowa) (weight throw, 4^th).
 
What's Next
Oneonta will have its full squad competing for the first time this Saturday at the Ithaca College Quad Meet.