The Bison men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Patriot League Indoor Championships on Feb. 16-17 at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Both the men’s and women’s teams placed third among tough Patriot League competition. The meet was filled with broken records – many of which were set by the Orange and Blue – along with a plethora of qualifications for the upcoming IC4A and ECAC Championships.

On the men’s side, Matt Fay ’19 reigned on top after smashing his previous personal-best in the pole vault with a height of 17-4.5,  one year after coming in third with a height of 16-4.75. This impressive feat was enough to not only set a school and facility record, but also a meet record.

“Leading up to the meet there was a lot of preparation between me and Coach Delsite that allowed me to go in feeling ready to compete,” Fay said. “Working hard all year with my teammates gave me confidence that I could perform.”

Jeff Brown ’20 was another first place finisher for the Bison in the 60-meter dash, tying his own school record of 6.81 seconds. Adding yet another first-place finish was Billy Melchionni ’19 who broke the school record in the 200-meter with a time of 21.44 seconds.

Among the IC4A qualifiers was Micah Sims ’20 who came in fourth in the long jump with a distance of 23-4.5. The 4×800-meter relay team finished fourth with a time of 7:36.25 to qualify for the IC4A as well. Rounding out the IC4A qualifiers were Nick Pacelli ’20 in the 1000-meter race, with a time of 2:28.24 that placed him in third at the meet, and the distance medley relay team.

On the women’s side, the first day of competition displayed a couple of solid scores to fuel the Bison. Colleen Buckley ’19 came in third in the 5,000-meter with a time of 17:18.16, while Ashley Blair ’21, Payton Capes ’21, and Margaret Thomson ’19 all collected points in the same event.

Kaitlin Salisbury ’20 started off her impressive weekend with a fourth-place performance in the long jump with a leap 19-1/2. The following day, Salisbury dominated the 60-meter dash, breaking her own personal best record, as well as the facility record, with a stunning time of 7.5 seconds.

“The pressure played a huge role in my win this past weekend. I’ve also competed under pressure, either from my own expectations or the coaches,” Salisbury said. “What also helped was my team cheering–it was jaw-dropping. We’re a family and that really showed this weekend.”

In a later event, Blair narrowly beat teammate Buckley in an exciting 3000-meter race with a time of 9:49.37, while Buckley finished at 9:49.46. In field events, Alexandra Butz ’21 finished in second place in the high jump with a height of 5-7, while Sydney Contrino ’20 finished in sixth with a height of 5-3.

Becca Rooney ’20 collected an ECAC bid by placing fourth in the 500-meter with a time of 1:15.12, and the distance medley relay team also earned a bid with a finishing time of 12:02.04.

“It felt great to win, especially to hit the qualifying standard at the Patriot League meet. I was really happy to be able to finish the race and am excited to run in an open event at the ECACs,” Rooney said.

The Orange and Blue will be back in action when they send their various qualifiers to the ECAC and IC4A Championships on March 1-3 in Boston.