HOUGHTON, NY – The Alfred University men's track & field team began its 2024 portion of its schedule with a well-rounded showing at Houghton University's Highlander Invitational on Saturday.
 
John Wendt (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) was just thousandths of a second away from making the finals in the 60-meter dash, posting a time of 7.45 (just shy of his personal record of 7.44). He was shy of finals with his expanded time of 7.445 that needed to beat 7.438. Jacob Taylor (Cohocton, NY/Avoca) cracked into the Top-10 of the mile with a time of 4:39.41, taking the 10^th place finish.
 
"Great meet. We've had a couple of weeks of solid training since coming back from break and we saw some really good performances on and off the track today," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "The team was out there supporting each other and that's the type of culture we want. We are excited to see what they can accomplish this season"
 
Carter Buckman (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.74. Mike Thammavong (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili) followed with a sixth place finish in the 400-meter dash, clocking in a race time of 55.99.
 
Riley Ciamarra (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) and Wendt had strong performances in the 200-meter dash. Ciamarra finished sixth out of 28 runners with a time of 24.09 while Wendt took eighth with a time of 24.40.
 
The Saxon men wrapped up their track events with the 4x400-meter relay, led by the team of Thammavong, Wendt, Ciamarra and Buckman as they combined for a time of 3:50.38, edging out the team from Houghton University's time of 3:51.35.
 
In the field, Kenneth Berlin (Erie, PA/Harbor Creek) finished fifth in the shot put with a toss of 10.93m (35'-10.5") on his third attempt of the day. He qualified for finals with that throw and remained consistent, throwing beyond the 10.0m mark. Joining him in the finals was Daimel Fowler (Baldwinsville, NY/Baker), hitting a personal best distance of 10.53m (34'-6.75"), also on his third throw. Fowler finished eighth overall on Saturday. Berlin earned another Top-10 finish as he took 10^th in the weight throw, reaching 11.31m (37'-1.25") after fouling his first two attempts.
 
The Saxons will next return to action on Friday, January 26 for a 4:00pm start at Rochester Institute of Technology.