Men's Track and Field | 4/23/2016 6:52:00 PM

Results
HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Senior Luis Rivera and sophomore Nick LaBarbera won individual titles and senior Tom Sippie sprinted to a pair of second-place finishes as Nazareth finished in fifth place in the Empire 8 Conference Men's Track and Field Championships at Houghton.

Nazareth placed fifth in the men's competition with 70 points. Utica won the team title with 165 points and was followed by Ithaca (114), Stevens (105), St. John Fisher (93), Nazareth (70), Alfred (27) and Houghton (15). Nazareth also was fifth in the women's competition with 49 team points. Ithaca was the runaway winner with 282.5 points, followed by Utica (78.5), Stevens (66), St. John Fisher (63), Nazareth (49), Houghton (32) and Alfred (11).

Rivera repeated as champion in the hammer throw with a heave of 177 feet, 4 inches. He also finished sixth in the discus (138 feet, 5 inches).

LaBarbera outkicked Sippie to the finish line to win the 400-meter dash in :49.04. Sippie was clocked in :49.12 and also finished second in the 200-meter dash in a school-record time of :22.03. LaBarbera was sixth in the 200 (:22.60).

Senior Brandon Vuolo excelled in the throwing events with a third-, a fourth- and a fifth-place finish. He broke his own school record with a third-place finish in the discus with a heave of 142 feet, 8 inches. He posted a personal-best distance in the hammer throw with a fourth-place heave of 149 feet, 8 inches. He was fifth in the shot put with a distance of 43 feet, 9 1/4 inches.

Nazareth also performed well in both relay events. The Golden Flyers won the 4 x 400-meter relay with a time of 3:21.43 with the foursome of LaBarbera, Matt Battaglia, Jacob Murray and Sippie. They also set a school record in the 4 x 100-meter relay with a third-place time of :43.19. Freshman Michael-Jordan Morris ran in that relay along with LaBarbera, Battaglia and Sippie.

Other top performers included Battaglia, who placed third in the 800-meter run (1:56.15) and Morris, who was seventh in the 110-meter hurdles in :16.04. He set a school record in the prelims with a time of :15.59.

In the women's competition, senior Gabrielle LeBihan earned top honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as she won that event for the third year in a row with a time of 11:16.68. Senior Amanda Entress set a school record with a second-place finish in the triple jump as she leaped 36 feet, 6 3/4 inches. She also finished fourth in the long jump (16 feet, 8 inches). Sophomore Samantha Goble was second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.44 and sophomore Emily Soeder was third in the high jump after clearing 5 feet, 1 inch.

Other top performers included senior Maggie Muzio, who placed fifth in the 100-meter dash (:13.00); sophomore Andrea Larnard, who placed sixth in the 400-meter dash (1:01.27); freshman Michaela Traylor, who was seventh in the 200-meter dash (:26.94); sophomore Emily Pawlowski, who was seventh in the pole vault (8 feet, 6 1/4 inches); and sophomore Claire Ludington, who was fifth in the 5,000-meter run (19:14.40) and eighth in the 1,500-meter run (5:03.87).

Nazareth also was second in the 4 x 400-meter relay (4:06.12) with the team of Larnard, Traylor, Samantha Williams and Goble.