GENESEO, NY – The Alfred University men's track & field team opened its outdoor season with a two-day meet at SUNY Geneseo for the Knights' Early Season Invitational on Friday and Saturday, with the majority of events taking place on Day Two.
 
The Saxons were led by first-year Zion Baitey (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) with two first place victories and a ninth place finish. Baitey, in his first collegiate meet, won the long and triple jump events. He first defeated 34 jumpers, including Division I jumpers from University of Buffalo and Division II jumpers from Daeman. He reached 6.71m (22'-0.25") to not only establish his collegiate career-high, but also to put himself at the top of the list among Empire 8 opponents by 0.35m. He did the same in the triple jump, distancing himself from E8 opponents by 0.40m with a distance of 13.43m (44'-0.75"). Both marks also put him in the national rankings' Top-50 sector. Baitey's triple jump has him at 43^rd in the nation for Division III while his long jump is 45^th in the nation.
 
"It was a bummer that the team couldn't get out to Houghton last week to begin our outdoor schedule but there's nothing we can do about the weather. Our ability to persevere and continue to find ways to improve ourselves really showed this past weekend," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "We not only saw our expected great marks from our veteran athletes, but saw a lot positive performances from our younger Saxons. The ceiling is high for all of them and they know it and they are trending upwards with their training and determination. As a coaching staff, we're very excited for the future."
 
Baitey also finished ninth overall in the 200-meter dash, despite not having a block start in his performance. He ran a 23.22 which was 0.02 away from eighth place overall and he was seventh among Division III competitors.
 
Jason Crocker (Oreland, PA/Springville Township) kept things rolling for the Saxon field athletes as he had two Top-5 finishes in the throws. He was third overall (second among Division III competitors) in the discus throw with a toss of 41.11m (134'-10"). He was joined in finals by teammate, Andrew Parnapy (Byron, NY/Byron Central) wo finished eighth with a toss of 35.88m (117'-8"). Crocker also took fifth (third in Division III) in the shot put with a throw of 14.07m (46'-2") on his last throw of the finals.
 
Finnegan Dean (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam Central) had the best finish on the track as he finished eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:30.98.
 
Kenneth Berlin (Erie, PA/Harbor Creek) also made finals in his throwing event. He reached 40.66m (133'-5") to finish ninth but also to put himself atop the Empire 8 list by 1.25m.
 
The Saxons will next compete at Susquehanna University on Saturday, April 6 at 9:00am.