WEST POINT, N.Y. (February 17, 2024) – Six members of the Stevens Institute of Technology men's indoor track and field team finished inside the top-10 of the 800-meter run Saturday to lead the Ducks at the West Point Tune Up, hosted by Army at the Gillis Field House.

Senior Jake Aylmer led the charge, placing fifth with a time of 1:58.30. He was followed by sophomore Danny Jutras (1:58.45), graduate students Ronnie Melao (1:59.78) and Kajetan Leitner (2:00.53), first-year Ryan Paradine (2:01.42) and sophomore Mick Barbi (2:05.34). The performance moved the flock of Ducks up the conference leaderboard.

Top Performers

• Senior Liam Concannon turned in the best individual performance of the day, posting a personal-best time of 4:23.14 in the mile to finish third in the race. Concannon's performance moved him into fifth place in the Middle Atlantic Conference. The Ducks hold three of the top five spots in the event heading into the conference championship meet, including Aylmer and Melao, who sit in first and second.
• First-year Tyler Hackett turned in a collegiate-best 7.21 seconds to place eighth in the 60-meter dash to climb into the MAC's top-20. Similarly, junior Xavier McWilliams posted a time of 9.21 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles to finish fourth, after posting a personal-best time of 9.08 seconds in the prelims.
• Senior Frank Orlando took second in the 3,000 with a time of 9:29.99.
• McWilliams also took fifth in the long jump with a distance of 5.69 meters on his first attempt. 
• Staying with the field events, junior Cullen Grady placed fourth with a mark of 3.46 meters in the pole vault. 
• Heading into the conference meet, the Ducks will hold top-10 marks in the 400-meter dash, the mile, the 3,000, the 5,000, the 60-meter hurdles, the 4x200-meter relay, the distance medley relay, the high jump, the pole vault and the heptathlon.

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference

• Several conference schools competed at Susquehanna's Tune-Up event at the Garrett Sports Complex. Alvernia, FDU-Florham, Hood, Lebanon Valley and Stevenson all took to the track in the Keystone State. For Alvernia, Kyle Schermerhorn was the Golden Wolvers' top finisher, taking second in the 3,000 with a season-best time of 9:12.75. For FDU-Florham, Ibrahim Fall had a strong meet, climbing to fifth in the conference in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump with a pair of season-best performances. For Hood, sprinter Jamel Mills moved to the top of the MAC leaderboard in the 60-meter dash, winning the event in a time of 6.93 seconds. Lebanon Valley's Zachary Reed moved to the top of the conference standings in the 60 hurdles after winning the race in 8.24 seconds. Finally, Stevenson's Jai Raccioppi slid up to seventh place in the 200-meter dash Saturday, posting a time of 22.95 seconds. 
• Delaware Valley and Eastern competed at Penn State's Tune Up event. For the Aggies, Colin Tracey was the top finisher, placing seventh in the weight throw with a mark of 9.92 meters. For Eastern, Robert Walton moved to first place in the conference in the 800 after placing 11th with a time of 1:53.62, although he was the second among Division III runners. 
• DeSales and King's headed to upstate New York for Cornell's Marc Deneault Invitational. For DeSales, Kyle Dunbar was the top finisher, winning the 200-meter dash in 22.26 seconds to climb to the top of the MAC leaderboard. For King's, Andrew Novrocki also had a strong 200, placing fourth in the race with a time of 22.61 seconds to move to third in the conference.
• Messiah stayed in state, competing at Bucknell's Tune Up. John Steele placed third in the triple jump, touching a season-best 13.38 meters to move up to 10th place in the conference.
• Widener took part in Haverford's Keogh Invitational. Matayo McGraw was the Pride's top placer, winning the high jump after clearing 1.90 meters. The height moved McGraw atop the conference leaderboard.
• Albright and Arcadia were off Saturday and set to compete Sunday at Princeton's Invitational.
• Misericordia and York will not compete until the conference championship meet.

Coach's Comments

• "It's always great to end our regular season up at Army West Point. We didn't have the full squad today, as we only bring athletes that still need to qualify for our Conference meet, or athletes looking for a tune up before our postseason begins. There's great competition for all levels, and we've seen some incredible performances over the years the week before our conference championship. This weekend was no different than the past, and I'm incredibly optimistic about how we'll compete next week."
• "We had quite a few impressive performances from our men's team. Danny Jutras continues to impress, having a lifetime best in the 800 by four seconds, a week after having a lifetime best in the mile by seven seconds. I don't recognize Danny as of late and progressions this quick while already at a high level are rare. I'm incredibly excited to see what he can do next weekend."
• "Liam Concannon was showing off his range this weekend, running a very impressive 4:23 in the mile. While Liam doesn't normally run races shorter than 3000 meters, he showed that even in the shorter races he can compete with just about anyone."
• "Tyler Hackett had a big breakthrough in the 60-meter dash, scoring a double PR in the trials and finals, ultimately running a 7.21. Tyler is slowly closing in on his 55-meter lifetime best of 7.04 from high school and not many sprinters pass that mark throughout their entire career. Tyler has a chance to do it in his first year at Stevens."
• "Our men's team is looking stronger than ever and I'm very excited to see how they compete during our postseason." – head coach John Kolibab

Up Next

• Stevens Track & Field returns to competition on Saturday, February 23 for the opening day of the 2023 Middle Atlantic Conference Indoor Championships. The event will be held at Alvernia's Tom and Helen Flynn Complex. It will be Stevens' third trip to Reading, Pennsylvania this season. Links for live stats and video will be posted to StevensDucks.com once available.

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