A Quick Look
Multiple personal best marks and a school record highlighted yesterday's performances for the SUNY Oneonta men's track & field team at the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University.  The Red Dragons are now two weeks out from the SUNYAC championship meet at Brockport.
 
The Inside Story
Highlighting the top performances for Oneonta at the meet was sophomore Austin O'Malley (Goshen/Goshen HS) who set the school indoor record in the pole vault.  Entering the meet tied at the top of the list, O'Malley cleared 4.20 meters (13-9 ¼") to claim it for himself.  His effort moved him into ninth on the SUNYAC performance list in the event.
 
The day for the Red Dragons began with a personal best time being run in the 5K by senior Matthew Palmer (Schuylerville/Schuylerville).  In a field of over 70 runners, Palmer placed 17^th with a time of 15:05.48.
 
Next was a season best performance and a personal best performance by senior Isaiah Ruiz (Staten Island/Susan E. Wagner) and freshman Cameron O'Connell (Liverpool/Liverpool) in the 800-meter run.  Ruiz posted a season best time of 1:58.98 while O'Connell nearly cracked the two-minute barrier for the first time of his collegiate career running a personal best time of 2:00.64.
 
The sprinters had a solid day for Oneonta with a handful of personal and season best times posted.  Freshman Tyler Lopresti recorded a pair of personal best times in the 200 and 400-meter events of 23.39 and 51.45 seconds respectively.  Classmates Tyler Price (Stephentown/New Lebanon) and Terrence Christian () each posted a personal best time.  Price's was in the 400 (53.29 seconds) and Christian's was in the 200 (23.46 seconds).  The final personal best time was recorded by sophomore Jeremy Howell (Stony Point/North Rockland) in the 200 with a time of 23.77 seconds.
 
Senior Nicholas Grasso (Goshen/Burke Catholic) posted a pair of season best times in the 200 and 400 while junior Jared Stauss (Kerhonkson/Rondout Valley) recorded a season best time in the 400.
 
Lopresti, Stauss, Price and Grasso put together a season best time in the 4x400-meter relay.
 
The final personal best performance was turned in by freshman Brandon Martin (Syracuse/Central Square) in the mile when he crossed the line with a time of 4:22.45.
 
In the throws, junior Norberto Cervantes (Williamson/Williamson) was the top finisher in the weight posting a mark of 16.52 meters (54'-2 ½"), which was good enough for 12^th place.
 
What's Next
The men will tune-up one final time next Saturday at Cornell University when they compete in the annual Marc Denault Invitational.