A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta men's track & field team competed for the first time in more than a month yesterday when they traveled to Ithaca to participate in the Ithaca Invitational.  The event was structured as a quad meet with the hosts, Brockport and Moravian.  In the end, Oneonta compiled 30 points and tied with Moravian for third place overall just one point behind Brockport's 31 points.
 
The Inside Story
In all, the Red Dragons had a total of 11 top-4 finishers in various individual events in compiling its final score.  Oneonta did come away with a pair of event winners on the day, as sophomores Luke Jarski (Massapequa/Massapequa) and Aidan Kelly (Farmingdale/Farmingdale) won the 1-mile and high jump respectively.
 
Competing for the first time indoors, Jarski ran 4:35.10 in winning the mile two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher from Ithaca.
 
Kelly, who is a multi-athlete, also saw his first indoor action cleared a personal best height of 1.85 meters (6'-3/4") to win the high jump.
 
In the sprints, sophomore Eric Nieves (Thornwood/Westlake) scored in both the 60 and 200-meter events.  Nieves placed second in the 60 with a time of 7.24 seconds while placing third in the 200 crossing in 23.79 seconds.  In the prelims of the 60, Nieves clocked a time of 7.23 seconds.
 
Oneonta performed well in both the 3K and 5K events with three athletes scoring points for the team.  Sophomore Jonthomas Bierman (Mamaroneck/Mamaroneck) was third in the 3K with a time of 9:03.45 while classmates John Balk Jr. and Eion McClain (Andover, NJ/Pope John XXIII) were 2-3 in the 5K running 16:09.34 and 16:09.86 respectively.
 
The final scorer on the track was sophomore Alexander Mavros who placed third in the 60-meter hurdles crossing in 9.21 seconds.
 
Sophomore Richard Mangogna (Kings Park/Kings Park), who is also another multi-athlete for Oneonta, had a busy day competing in four events.  Mangogna did score points for the Red Dragons in the pole vault clearing 4.25 meters (13'-11 ¼") to take third place.  Mangogna did post personal best marks in the other three events that he competed in (60 hurdles, long jump, shot put).
 
Sophomore Michael Prata (Baldwin/Baldwin) placed fourth in the triple jump posted a distance of 11.66 meters (38'-3 ¼"), which is a personal best mark for him.
 
In the throws, senior Norberto returned and placed second in the weight throw posting a mark of 16.46 meters (54"-0").
 
What's Next
The men will be back at it next Friday afternoon at the Hamilton Invitational.