Syracuse track opens outdoor season on both coasts

The Syracuse Orange track and field teams got their outdoor seasons underway last weekend. The sprint/hurdle group was down at the Florida Relays while the distance team went out west to compete at Stanford and San Francisco.

All-American hurdler Freddie Crittenden III got his final outdoor season off to a strong start with a 13.66 in the 110m hurdles. That time was good enough for a 3rd place finish last week, but it is also the fastest time in the ACC this season. Sophomore Chevis Armstead II turned in the 5th fastest ACC time with a 14.37.

Kadejhia Sellers ran 53.89 for the 400m in her season debut. That time is currently 5th fastest in the ACC and is .5 seconds off the school record. Sellers had a very good indoor season, so we’ll see if she can claim another Syracuse record this season.

Out west a couple of Syracuse freshmen turned in strong 5k times. Madeleine Davison opened up with a 16:37.94 which places her 6th on the ACC list. Aidan Tooker went 14:04.91 in his first 5k and that time has him 2nd in the ACC right now. Mary and Shannon Malone turned in top 10 ACC performances in the 5k in San Francisco running 16:54 and 16:56 respectively.

In the 10k last weekend, Paige Stoner ran 33:55.69 against a strong Stanford Invitational field. Stoner’s currently 4th on the ACC list and based upon her running this year she’ll be a candidate to make the NCAA Championships in either the 5 or 10k this spring. For the men, Colin Bennie (29:20.56) and Philo Germano (29:46.47) were the fastest Orange runners.

Now that Spring seems to be finally arriving in Syracuse, I’d expect we’ll see improvement from these squads as they build towards the ACC Championships which will be held at Georgia Tech in May. Be sure to check in for weekly updates on the teams as the season progresses.