HOUGHTON, NY — The Alfred University men's indoor track & field took part in the season-opening Houghton Classic with some positive starts. 

"This early competition is so much fun," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "The athletes have been training for months and it's nice for them to finally get a chance to compete. Tonight allows the athletes to get a benchmark of where they are at, before we ead off on a month long winter break."

One big positive spot was from Jonathan Hodges (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West). In the 600 meter final, he conquered a time of 1:23.86, beating his own previous school record in the same event by two seconds. He also finished almost three seconds of the second-place finisher. 

Zach Schultz (Middleport, NY/Royalton-Hartland) wrapped up the top five finishing positions in the same race at 1:28.20. Khamani Hunter Sr (Poughkeepsie, NY/FDR) also took home a win in his heat race in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.18. He also took home a top-10 finish in the men's 200-meter race.

In the 3000-meter event, first-year Seth Stevens (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) impressed with a second place finishing, nearly catching the winner down the stretch. He clocked in at 9:08.63. Finnegan Dean (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam Central) and Jacob Taylor (Cohocton, NY/Avoca) took home seventh and eleventh place finishes with respective times of 9:35.11 and 9:42.86. 

"This team has a lot of potential, and we got a glimpse of that tonight" Phillips '10 said. "I'm really looking forward to when we all get back together in January."

After a nice start to the indoor season and seeing where the team is at, AU will take the winter break to regroup and go at it again back at Houghton on January 24.

— Swords Forward Saxons —