CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, May 7, 2022
The men's and women's track and field program both earn second place finishes at the 2022 NJCAA Region 3 Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday afternoon in Herkimer, NY.
In the first season of competition since the 2019 season, the women's program earned 139 points and placed behind the Region 3 Champions, SUNY Broome (177 points). For the men, they also placed second, for the first time after winning the championship in 2018 and 2019, posting 191 points. Finger Lakes won the men's title with 207 points.
Highlighting the women's team was Olivia Skylstad and Lia Soares, who won multiple events on the day. Soares won the women's 200-meter dash with a time of 27.34 and the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.22, breaking her own school record in the 100-meter dash, which she set at the AIC Yellowjacket Invitational on April 2.
Skystad won the women's 400-meter Hurdles event, a first in her career. She posted a final time of 1:114.83. Olivia also posted a nice time in the women's 10K event, winning with a final time of 48:21.00.
The women's 4x800 meter relay team consisting of Whalen, Sgambettera, Skylstad and Erno, won the regional title with a final time of 12:04.34. The women's 4x400 meter relay team also won 10 points for the Vikings with a time of 4:30.37. The 4x400 team included Skylstad, Alyssa Bruno, Eva Sgambettera and Soares.
Highlighting the men's team was Charles Benichoux, who claimed the Region 3 Championship in the men's 100-meter and 200-meter events. Benichoux won the 200-meter dash by nearly an entire second, as he finished with a final time of 22.18. He won the 100-meter dash, hasn't lost all year, with a time of 10.81 seconds.
On the throwing events, the Vikings Martin Bond dominated the competition. He won the men's Discus Throw with a distance of 38.58m. Teammate Aiden Alaxanian placed second with a distance of 31.34m. Bond also took home the Region 3 title in the Hammer Throw. He tossed the hammer an official distance of 37.27m. Robert Fitzgerald and Guerin Dupuis placed second and third, respectively. Bond earned the throwing trifecta after claiming the men's Javelin title with a throw of 45. 67m. Later in the meet, Bond completed the throwing sweep! Bond also won the Shot Put with a distance of 12.72m.
Up next for the Vikings track and field program is the 2022 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, hosted by Hudson Valley Community College from May 12-14. The Vikings are poised to compete for a national championship this year as both programs are currently ranked inside the top-10 of the latest USTFCCCA ranking polls.