Men's Track and Field Wins Region 3 Title; Women Place Third
CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Sunday, April 28, 2019
For the second consecutive years, the Hudson Valley men's outdoor track and field program claimed the NJCAA Region 3 Championship after accumulating 293 points over the course of the two-day meet at the Outdoor Athletic Complex on the campus of Hudson Valley Community College.
The Vikings women's outdoor track and field program placed third with 147 points, following dominant performances by Mercedes Planavsky (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa). Planavsky was named the Region 3 Female Track Athlete of the Meet after winning five events. Mercedes won all of the distance events, including the 800-meter run (2:36.69), 1,500-meter run (5:30.53), 5,000-meter run (19:59.41), 10,000-meter run (40:44.13) and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (12:50.79).
Planavsky was also a member of the Vikings 4x400 meter relay championship team that won the event with a final time of 4:41.68. The 4x400 team consisted of Martinez, White, Planavsky and Clarke.
Alexis Holmes (Albany/Guilderland) scored in all of her events for Hudson Valley, including a second-place finish in the discus and the javelin. Holmes recorded a final distance of 27.37 meters in the discus and added a final throw of 25.43 meters in the javelin. Holmes also placed fourth in the triple jump (8.24m) and third in the shot put (8.82m)
Ashley Martinez (Red Hook/Red Hook) placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.95 and added a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 29.82. Martinez closed out the meet with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:05.98. Hannah White (Valatie/Ichabod Crane) placed in scoring positions in the same events as she placed fifth in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash with a times of 14.76 and 29.82, respectively. White scored a fourth place in the 400-meter dash with a final time of 1:08.40.
Maejean Dellabarca-Barnes (Dolgeville/Dolgeville) and Jasmine Minick-Seldon (Stillwater/Stillwater) earned a fifth and sixth place finish in the women's shot put. Dellabarca-Barnes posted a throw of 7.86 meters and 7.77 meters, respectively.
The men's program was led by the Region 3 Male Track Athlete of the Meet, Devin Kipp (Hudson/Hudson). Kipp won the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, discus and was a member of the winning 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay teams. Kipp anchored the 4x400 relay and overcame approximately a 100-meter deficit to win the event for the Vikings.
Elijah Washington (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa) was named the Region 3 Field Athlete of the Meet for the second consecutive year. Washington won the hammer throw, shot put and the javelin. Elijah tossed the javelin 41.26 meters and posted a 45.50 meter throw in the hammer throw event. He also finished the shot put with a 13.50-meter toss.
In the decathlon, John Acker (Melrose/Hoosic Valley) won the 10-event meet with a final score of 4,354 points. Acker won the 100-meter dash (12.47), the 400-meter dash (58.07), the high jump (1.81m), the pole vault (2.92m) and the long jump (5.65m) to claim the 2019 decathlon title.
With a little drama going into the final jump of the men's triple jump, Chris Mannolini-Adams (Albany/Scotia-Glenville) recorded the winning jump of 12.96 meters on final jump of the day to claim the triple jump title.
The Vikings outdoor track and field program will be preparing for the NJCAA National Championships at Mohawk Valley on May 11-12 in Utica, NY.