CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Oneonta men's track & field team had two individual champions to highlight the final day of the SUNYAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday. Senior Tariq Earl (Centereach, NY/Centereach) won the 110-meter hurdles, and Kejhaune Lester (Castleton, NY/Columbia) won the 100-meter. The Red Dragons finished fourth with 79.5 points, while Cortland took the team title with 240 points.
Junior Chris Schimkus (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) kicked off the day by medaling in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a third-place performance at 9:46.68.
Oneonta's 4x100 relay of Isaiah Slater (Brooklyn, NY/John F. Kennedy), Lester, Cam Spears (Bronx, NY/Monroe Woodbury), and Amir Mceachin (Middletown, NY/Middletown) took silver at 42.01.
In the 1,500-meter race, freshman Xander Kunz (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) ran a personal best of 4:03.03 to grab All-SUNYAC Second Team honors at second overall. Junior Lucas Berg (Nyack, NY/Nyack) scored by crossing sixth at 4:08.29.
Earl carried over his first-place performance from yesterday's prelims to win the 110-meter hurdle finals at 14.43. Lester ran a personal best of 10.56 to win the 100-meter dash.
Freshman Chris Cordero (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) earned points in the 400-meter hurdle finals with a fourth-place finish (57.09).
The 4x400 relay of Jacob Prentice (New Berlin, NY/Unadilla Valley), Justin Berkowitz (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow), Spears, and Jamar Matthew (Mt. Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon Stream Academy) placed fourth overall at 3:20.91.
In the field events, junior Jayden Tsoi (North White Plains, NY/Valhalla High School) cleared 1.80 meters in the high jump to tie for eighth. Oneonta had three finishers in the top seven of the triple jump, with senior Josh Jerome (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) taking fifth (13.49m), sophomore Gabriel Schoonmaker (Stone Ridge, NY/Rondout Valley) at sixth (13.48m), and junior Isaiah Slater (Brooklyn, NY/John F. Kennedy) at seventh (13.42m).
Senior Sawyer Eckberg (Maryland, NY/Laurens-Milford) finished fourth in the discus at 44.22 meters, and junior Elijah Cruz (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush Central) took 10th at 41.39 meters.
Oneonta next competes at the Ithaca Invitational on Saturday, May 9.
