Results
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth hosted the Empire 8 men's and women's Empire 8 Track and Field Championships on Saturday afternoon. The women finished third with 78 points while the men were sixth in their meet with 52 points. Freshman Brandon Vuolo finished first in the discus and was named E8 Field Athlete of the Meet.

In the men's meet, Ithaca took the title with 183 points. Utica finished second with 107 points, followed by Stevens with 95 points, St. John Fisher with 82 points, Alfred with 67 points, Nazareth with 52 points, and Houghton with nine points.

Freshman Luis Rivera set a school record in the hammer throw with a mark of 127 feet, 1 1/4 inches (38.74 meters). Rivera also placed second in the discus with a toss of 115 feet, 9 1/4 inches (35.29 meters). Vuolo took first in the discus with a mark of 118 feet, 4 1/2 inches (36.08 meters), and he was 10th in the hammer with a toss of 110 feet, 9 1/4 inches (33.76 meters). Vuolo added a fourth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 39 feet, 11 1/2 inches (12.18 meters).

Freshman Khiary Gayle placed first in the triple jump with a mark of 42 feet, 8 1/4 inches (13.01 meters). Junior Jake Lafaver also recorded a first-place finish by claiming the title in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.17.

Freshman Jeff Green was fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 12 feet, 2 inches (3.71 meters). The Golden Flyers' 4 x 100-meter team, composed of senior Philip Schierer, Zach Lafaver, and Jake Lafaver also placed fifth with atime of :44.94. Junior Matt Fedrizzi placed eighth in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:22.43 while Schierer placed eighth in the 400-meter run in :52.58.

Ithaca won the women's meet with 268 points. Stevens finished in second place with 79 points to edge the Golden Flyers. Houghton was fourth with 64 points, followed by St. John Fisher with 42 points, Utica with 38 points and Alfred with 17 points. Nazareth sophomore Hannah Brackley won the 200-meter and 400-meter dash events with times of :25.44 and :58.70, respectively. Both times are school and stadium records. She was named E8 Track Athlete of the Meet, while teammate Taylor Pierson, a first-place finisher in the long jump, was named E8 Field Athlete of the Meet.

Brackley was also a member of Nazareth's first-place 4 x 400-meter relay team that finished in 4:05.89 to qualify for the upcoming ECAC Championship meet in May. Sophomore Michaela Gildemeyer, senior Katie Wyant, and senior Keaghlan Morrissey joined Brackley on the 4 x 400-meter team. The Golden Flyers' 4 x 100-meter relay team recorded a second-place finish. Brackley, Pierson, sophomore Sibongile Chisi, and Morrissey teamed to finish in :49.65.

Morrissey also added a second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.57.

In the 800-meter run, the women had four runners finish in the top nine led by Gildemeyer's second-place finish in 2:20.17. Junior Lauren Heitzhaus was fifth in 2:27.82, senior Lauren Jamieson placed sixth in 2:28.82, and senior Kelsey Mash was ninth in 2:29.06.

Rounding out the track events, Pierson added a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash in :12.96. In the 1500-meter run, Jamieson and senior Kayla Murphy placed seventh and ninth, respectively. Jamieson finished in 5:09.16 and Murphy crossed the line in 5:18.23. Junior Bethany Althaus was eighth in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:50.98.

In the field events, Pierson took the title in the long jump with a mark of 18 feet, 5 1/4 inches (5.62 meters). Entress placed seventh with a mark of 16 feet, 0 1/2 inches (4.89 meters). Chisi was third in the pole vault as she finished at 9 feet, 3 1/2 inches (2.83 meters). Morrissey added a fifth-place finish in the high jump at 5 feet, 0 inches (1.52 meters). In the hammer throw, senior Jessica Hogan was ninth with a mark of 118 feet, 4 3/4 inches (36.09 meters).

The men's and women's teams are in action again next Saturday at the St. John Fisher Invitational.