The Oswego State men's track and field team opened the outdoor season at the University of Rochester's Alumni Invitational on Thursday afternoon. The team's 2015 debut was powered by strong performances in a variety of events from the freshman and sophomore classes.
In the long jump, sophomore Adam Crumb earned his first points of the season. His jump of 6.49 meters (21'3.5") earned a fourth place finish and five points for the team.
On the track, sophomore Ben Griffin had a strong showing. After taking 10th place in the 1,500 in the meet's second event, Griffin rebounded to take fifth place in the 800 with a time of 1:59.19. Griffin tripled back later on in the meet along with senior Nick Reinsdorf and the freshmen duo of Jake Barbara and Doug Castro to take second place in the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:29.89.
Under the lights, it was pair of freshmen in the distance events that made an impact in scoring. Justin Sommer scored six points for Oswego, taking third place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:19.47. In the 10,000-meter run, Colin Greenseich scored eight points, taking second in a time of 33:17.26 in his first ever race at that distance.
In the throwing events, freshman Ethan Erlich scored eight points, taking home second place in the javelin. Erlich's throw of 47.95 meters (157'4") stood up as the top throw for most of the competition, before being passed in the final round. Erlich's final throw of the competition narrowly missed reclaiming the lead and a school record, when his 49-meter throw landed just a few centimeters out of bounds.
The Lakers return to action at 10 a.m. on Saturday, when they travel back out to Rochester to take part in the 2015 Roc City Challenge hosted by Nazareth College.
