HOUGHTON, NY/EDINBORO, PA – The Alfred University men's track & field team began its 2023-24 indoor season with the majority of their team competing at the Houghton University December Classic with one Saxon at the Edinboro University Mike Kowal Multi Invitational.
 
Carter Buckman (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) was the lone Saxon at the two-day, Edinboro University Mike Kowal Multis Invitational on Saturday and Sunday as he finished ninth in the heptathlon, totaling 3,199 points in the seven events. "Carter did great as this was not only his first heptathlon ever, but his first collegiate track meet so to complete every event with a mark is outstanding," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said.
 
Buckman's top-scoring event was his 1,000-meter run, scoring 603 points with a time of 3:06.37. He ran a 7.90 in the 60-meter dash to post his second-best score of 589 points.
 
On Friday's meet at Houghton University, Andrew Parnapy (Byron, NY/Byron-Bergen) had the best individual performance, finishing 13^th in the weight throw, throwing out a big personal record on his first throw, reaching 13.29m (43'07.25"). He was 12^th among collegiately-attached athletes.
 
"We saw a lot of performances this weekend that got us excited to be back in season," Coach Phillips said. "We saw some really good competition from both meets, going against national standouts in Division III and even Division II. Now that we've had our opening weekend, we going to get back to work and improve on the areas that we need to when we get into 2024."
 
The Saxons distance medley relay team of Yuner Sesmas (Apollo, PA/Kiski Area), Mike Thammavong (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili), Kevin Flint (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) and Jacob Taylor (Cohocton, NY/Avoca) finished third out of five teams. They combined for a time of 11:27.86, coming from behind to beat the Daemen College C and A teams.
 
The Saxons will next return to action in 2024 when they return to Houghton University on Saturday, January 20 for a 10:30am meet start.