HOUGHTON, NY – The Alfred University men's track & field team finished fifth out of the seven teams competing in the two-day, Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championships at Houghton University on Saturday.
 
The Saxons scored 16 points to defeat Hartwick College (2.2 points) and Russell Sage College (one point). Eight of those points came from the Alfred University relays with the distance medley relay leading the way.
 
The relay team of Jacob Taylor (Cohocton, NY/Avoca), John Wendt (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter), Kevin Flint (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) and Finnegan Dean (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam Central) earned the Saxons' only All-Empire 8 finish as they took Third Team honors with a time of 11:00.57 after battling back from sixth place. Flint's 800-meter leg jumped the Saxons up to fourth place, right behind St. John Fisher University and Dean's last lap kick helped edged the Cardinals' time of 11:02.17 on Friday evening.
 
Wendt, Max Rasilla (Moraga, CA/Midland), Riley Ciamarra (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) and Dean then closed out the meet with another come-from-behind finish to clinch fifth place in the 4x400-meter relay on Saturday. The Saxons were behind Hartwick, in sixth place, for the majority of the race as it was Dean again who jumped them over Hartwick, for a photo-finishing time of 3:37.79 to edge the Hawks' 3:37.81.
 
"Outstanding performances across the board! I couldn't be happier with how everyone on the team showed up for this championship meet," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "Each Saxon supported their teammates and created such a positive atmosphere. Today was truly a great day."
 
Jason Crocker (Oreland, PA/Springfield Township) was the only non-Utica athlete in the Top-5 of the men's shot put on Friday. He finished fourth by marking his best throw of the day on his first attempt, reaching 13.65m (44'-9.5"). He totaled four points for the Saxons as well as Carter Buckman (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) as the first-year found spots on the podium twice during the two days.
 
He first earned a podium spot with a personal best height in the open pole vault. He cleared 3.40m (11'-1.75") on his second attempt at that height. Buckman would have to get back in the pole vault lane on Saturday as part of his two-day heptathlon. He finished fifth overall with 3,541 points with the majority of it coming from his 60-meter dash time of 7.69 for 653 points.