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With one early meet in the books, the Syracuse Orange Track and Field teams are back on campus preparing for the rest of the indoor season. The teams will compete January 15th at the Ramapo Opener at the Armory Track in New York City. The program will be looking to build upon the momentum from the Cross-Country National Championship as well as a successful 2015 outdoor campaign.
Leading the way for the women will be defending ACC Champions Shaina Harrison (Indoor 60m dash) and Margo Malone (Outdoor 10k). Harrison just missed making the NCAA Outdoor 100m and earned a bronze medal in last summer's Pan Am Games in the 4x100 relay. She will be looking to defend her ACC title and help the Orange women improve upon last year's 10th place ACC finish. Malone is going to once again lead the Orange distance group as she looks to repeat her All-American honors from last Spring.
Rebecca Robinson set a school record in the 400m and finished 7th in the ACC in the event last year. She will be counted on to provide some scoring again this year and may receive help from Freshman Kadejhia Sellers. Regine Hunter was 3rd in the ACC in the triple jump, which is incredibly impressive since SU has no indoor practice area for the event.
The Orange men have a quartet of All-American athletes leading them: Hurdler Freddie Crittenden and Distance runners Justyn Knight, Colin Bennie, and Dan Lennon. Syracuse will be looking to improve upon last year's 6th place finish in the ACC. Crittenden will be looking to lead the always strong Orange hurdle group along with David Gilyard (8th in ACC indoors) and Freshman Richard Floyd.
Knight told FloTrack that he hasn't decided if he would focus on the Mile or 3k during indoor, but he'll be an All-American candidate in either event. Bennie is in a similar situation as he has the versatility to contend in either event. Look for Bennie, Joel Hubbard, and Tulsa transfer Adam Palamar to take a run at a Sub-4 mile this Winter, as they look to match the feat accomplished by Knight and Martin Hehir last winter.
Lennon and XC standout Philo Germano will look to lead a deep group in the 5k. During last year's track season, both Bennie and Germano started to emerge, so maybe we'll get a look at which young runner will be poised to break into the top 7 next Fall.
Jabari Butler (5th in the High Jump), and Reggie Morton (7th in Long Jump) lead the men's field event group. Both will be looking to move up the ACC rankings this year. We'll be providing recaps starting with the Ramapo Open meet, so stay tuned to TNIAAM for updates.