The Rensselaer men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams kept themselves busy over the three-day weekend as they competed in the Deneault Invitational on Saturday and came back to contend in the NYSCTC Pentathlon on Sunday, both in Ithaca, N.Y.
At the non-scoring event on Saturday, the men were led by senior Joe Otto and sophomore Kemar Brown. Otto, a co-captain, finished second in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:06.90.
Brown tallied the only RPI victory on either side on Saturday, winning the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.01 seconds. Brown’s efforts earned him Co-Track Performer of the Week honors from the Liberty League.
The men’s squad also enjoyed a third place finish in the 4x800 meter relay.
For the women, senior co-captain Alysia Evanitsky, sophomore Jen Dias, and freshman Marion Albert fronted the winning effort.
Albert recorded a third place finish in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:21.23. The time was also good enough for first place among strictly Division III competitors in the event. The Liberty League bestowed the freshman with the Rookie of the Week award.
Dias and Evanitsky finished second and third, respectively, in the 400-meter dash in times of 1:00.29 and 1:01.00.
The upstart Dias also came in fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.55 seconds. Both of Dias’ performances were best among her Division III contemporaries in the respective events. The Liberty League also gave Dias Track Performer of the Week accolades for her weekend accomplishments.
On Sunday, four Engineers battled in the New York State Indoor Pentathlon. Trevor Tersmette, Okechuka Ekwuabu, and David Addiss represented the men; while Heather Maffei took to the field for the women.
Tersmette, a senior co-captain, won the event with a school record 3,577 points. En route to the victory, Tersmette finished first in the 55-meter hurdles in a time of 7.98 seconds and in the high jump with a bound of 1.99 meters, third in the long jump with a leap of 6.46 meters, fourth in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:51.14, and sixth in the shot put with a toss of 10.68 meters. For his record-setting day, Liberty League officials named him Co-Field Performer of the Week.
Ekwuabu, a sophomore, compiled 2,956 points on the day which was good enough for eighth place. Addiss, a freshman, amassed 2,666 points and finished thirteenth overall.
On the women’s side, Maffei, a senior, totaled 2,335 points for tenth place.
