UTICA, NY – The Alfred University women's track & field team finished fourth out of seven teams competing in the Empire 8 Outdoor Championships hosted by Utica University on Saturday, led by multiple record-breaking performances and All-Empire 8 listings.
 
Olivia Gilbert (Ontario, NY/Wayne Central) earned another Empire 8 Championship title as she won the outdoor 800-meter run on Saturday. Earlier in the year, she won the indoor 800-meters at the Empire 8 Indoor Championships at Nazareth College as she now has both titles for the 2022-23 season. On Saturday, she ran an All-Atlantic Regional Track & Field Championship (AARTFC) qualifying time of 2:18.24. The time not only won the race, upped her standing in AARTFC, but it also broke the Alfred University school record, set in 1999 by Millicent Boardi and her time of 2:18.79. The win also earns Gilbert All-Empire 8 First Team Honors.
 
"I honestly have no words to describe how amazing our teams performed this weekend. They surpassed what I thought was possible," Interim Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "The women's team this year is something special. As our indoor season progressed, I knew we had a group that was ready to match the history and legacy of the AU T&F program. What these  ladies have been able to accomplish during the indoor season, and then build upon during this outdoor season is unbelievable. Numerous podium finishes, multiple regional qualifiers and six school records! It's been an outstanding year!"
 
The first school record to be broken on the weekend was from Bianca Durso (Utica, NY/New Hartford Senior) as, while competing in the heptathlon, broke the Alfred University record in the high jump. She cleared 1.59m (5'-2.5") to break the 2013 record, set by Elizabeth DeMonte '15 of 1.58m (5'-2.25"). Durso was the top finisher in the event, scoring 724 points to help her break her second school record of the weekend, totaling 3,862 points in the heptathlon. Her point total vaulted past the top four scores in the AU record books, breaking the 2014 record set by Chelsea Hall '14 of 3,815 points. Durso earned All-Empire 8 Second Team as she finished second in the event. Joining her high jump total, her other top finishes in the multi-event were the 800-meter run, scoring 621 points with a time of 2:35.89 and the 100-meter hurdles, scoring 604 points with a time of 16.93. Ana Ion (Bucharest, Romania/Episcopal School of Jacksonville) followed in the event, just missing All-Empire 8 honors as she finished fourth with a score of 3,218 points. Her top events were the high jump, just behind Durso with a height of 1.50m for 621 points and her winning the shot put with a toss of 10.10m, scoring 536 points.
 
The final Saxon school record to be broken on Saturday was by McKenzie Hall (Hornell, NY/Hornell) as she broke the 1997 record set by Abigail Olson in the 1,500-meter run. Olson's time of 4:55.80 was broken with Hall's time of 4:55.68 as she earned All-Empire 8 Second Team, finishing just 0.52 seconds away from the E8 1,500-meter crown.
 
Joining Gilbert, Hall and Durso in All-Empire 8 finishes were Anne Spila (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity), Madison Palmer (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora) and the team of Durso, Lina Young (North Collins, NY/North Collins), Nyah Solly (Colden, NY/Springville-Griffith Institute) and Spila, again, in the 4x100-meter relay, all earning All-E8 Third Team recognition.
 
The 4x100-meter relay team combined for a time of 51.02 for third place. The time was 0.02 seconds away from qualifying for AARTFC. Spila earned her second All-Empire 8 Third Team honors with a toss of 27.39m (89'-10") in the javelin, followed by Durso and her sixth place finish of 24.51m (80'-5"). Palmer got on the Outdoor All-Empire 8 listing with a throw of 11.64m (38'-2.25") in the shot put.
 
The Saxons added another six fourth place finishes, just outside of All-Empire 8 honors. Spila, Durso, Solly and Palmer all had individual finishes while two Saxon relay teams added fourth place finishes.
 
Spila ran a time of 16.58 in the 100-meter hurdles. Durso competed in the high jump outside of the heptathlon, clearing 1.52m (4'-11.34"). Solly vaulted herself to fourth with a distance of 5.40m (17'-8.75") as Spila was just shy of finals in ninth place with a distance of 5.13m (16'-10"). Palmer threw 41.89m (137'-5") in the hammer throw to round out the individual fourth place finishes.
 
The 4x800-meter relay team of Sarah Lutkins (Union Springs, NY/Union Springs), Ashley Page (Wayland, NY/Wayland-Cohocton), Hall and Ashley O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) ran a time of 10:17.54 to take fourth. Gilbert, Page, Solly and Lutkins ended the meet with a time of 4:20.88 for fourth in the 4x400-meter relay.
 
AU had two more finishes to score team points, both of which finished fifth. Gilbert added to her impressive weekend with two points from the 400-meter dash, running a 1:00.60, just shy of the AARTFC-qualifying mark of 1:00.00. Had she broken a minute, she would be close to another outdoor school record of 59.23, set by Jen Ares in 1998. The other fifth place finish was also close to an Alfred school record as Solly hopped-skipped-jumped to a distance of 11.05m (36'-3") in the triple jump, shy of her women's soccer assistant coach, Danielle Perry '20 record of 11.07m (36'-4"). Solly was joined in the triple jump finals by Ion who just missed the podium with a seventh place finish of 10.89m (35'-8.75"). She was short by 0.01m (.5") of sixth place.
 
Another Saxon just missed the podium, but was more than happy with her finish as she qualified for AARTFC in the 10,000-meter run. Mari Jablonski (Monticello, GA/Jasper County) ran a seventh place time of 40:13.51 to punch her ticket to regionals.
 
Young and O'Toole rounded out the top performances as both missed the podium by one place in their events. Young was 0.48 seconds away from scoring in the 200-meter dash, running a time of 26.90. O'Toole ran a 13:00.41 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for her seventh place finish.
 
The Saxons will next send a handful of athletes to Allegheny College for a Last Chance Meet, trying to get more qualified for AARTFC. The final opportunity is Thursday, May 11.