ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta women's track & field team heads into the SUNYAC Outdoor Championships this weekend at SUNY Cortland with a deep lineup, featuring entries across sprints, distance, field events, and relays. The Red Dragons look to build upon last season, where they finished as the conference runner-up. The meet starts on Friday, May 1, at 2:15 p.m. with the heptathlon.
TICKET INFORMATION…
-Available for purchase online only - DAY 1 LINK | DAY 2 LINK
-Adults - $6 per day
-Children Ages 5-17 - $4 per day
-Children under the age of 4 – FREE
-Students of SUNYAC schools with ID – FREE
On the track, the Red Dragons will look to make an impact in the sprint events led by freshman Olivia Nicholls (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman), who enters the 100-meter dash seeded at 12.22 and also sits among the top seeds in the 200-meter dash (24.89). Nicholls will be joined by junior Nicolette DuBose (Levittown, NY/Island Trees), junior Brianna Senatore (), and sophomore Kristanna Samascott (Kinderhook, NY/Ichabod Crane) in both events.
Freshman Eva Croft (Sherrill, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill Central) comes into the heptathlon seeded fourth with 3,186 points. Junior Jacey Hinds (Blossvale, NY/Camden Senior) ranks sixth at 3,016.
The hurdles group is highlighted by sophomore Jaiden Schrag (New Berlin, NY/Unadilla Valley Central), who owns the top seed in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.76 and is also a major factor in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.43). Schrag's versatility extends to the field, where she holds the top seed in the long jump (5.55m) and ranks second in the triple jump at 10.98 meters.
In the middle-distance events, sophomore Natalia Sweat (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh) enters the 1500-meter run as the top seed (4:33.59), positioning herself as a conference title favorite, and is also part of a strong 800-meter group that includes Alex Friedel (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit), Keyla Mendoza (Freeport, NY/Freeport), and Eva Woodworth (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool).
The distance squad adds further depth with junior Gia Engel (Syosset, NY/Syosset), seeded fifth in the 5000 meters (18:25.91) and second in the 10,000 meters (37:56.71).
Oneonta will also be well represented in the steeplechase, where sophomore Anna Kern (Central Valley, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) (11:51.58) is seeded fourth and sophomore Sophia Allen (Scotia, NY/Scotia Glenville) ranks seventh at 12:17.23.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Schrag, Nicholls, Gracie Gorrell (Columbus, NY/Unadilla Valley Central), and DuBose enters with a seed time of 47.95, while the 4x400-meter relay holds the top seed at 4:01.28, featuring Schrag, Senatore, Gorrell, and Sweat.
In the field events, Oneonta boasts several top contenders. Schrag and Eko Dodd-Brown (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) rank first and second in the long jump, while DuBose leads the triple jump field (11.35m). In the throws, senior Tarryn Herman (Franklinville, NY/Franklinville) is seeded third in the hammer throw (51.71m) and fourth in the shot put (11.95m), while Mackenzie Lawrence (Berne, NY/Berne-Knox) also ranks third in the shot put (12.18m) and fifth in the hammer (46.15m).
Additional contributors include sophomore Ashley LaReddola (Coram, NY/Longwood) in the pole vault (3.15m), junior Melinda Reid (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) in the high jump, and freshman Carly Hein (Endwell, NY/Maine Endwell) in the long jump and javelin.
Following the SUNYAC Championships, Oneonta competes at the Ithaca Invitational on May 9.
