Ithaca, NY (February 17, 2024) - On Saturday, the DeSales University men's track & field team returned from a week break from competition with very strong performances at the Marc Denault Invitational hosted by Cornell University.
 
Starting off the meet in the 5000-meter, senior Matt Chylack won the first heat with a time of 16:24.58 (11^th place overall). Chylack's effort was a qualifier for the MAC Championships in the event. Sophomore Antonio Rinaldi also set a personal best in the event, taking 8^th place in the heat (22^nd overall) with a time of 17:15.08.
 
Then, in the 60-meter hurdles, junior Sam Estherson nearly set a personal best in the prelims with a time of 8.71, finishing 10^th overall (third in heat). Estherson will look again to improve upon his second place in school history performance in the conference championship next week.
 
Moving to the 60-meter dash, senior Logan Berner finished ninth overall out of the first heat with a time of 7.09. Senior Kyle Dunbar then set a personal best in the event with a time of 7.10, good for 11^th overall. Both narrowly missed the cutoff for the finals, but Dunbar now sits right behind Berner with the fourth fastest times in school history in the event. Both now hold regional qualifiers in the event and will look to improve their marks at the MAC Championship.
 
Three more individuals set personal bests in the 60-meter as well. Sophomore Tyler McCulloch took fourth place out of the fifth heat to notch 18^th overall with a time of 7.26. Sophomore Braeden DeGrazia placed fifth in the first heat (29^th overall) with a time of 7.51. First-year Bryce Guthier rounded out the group by taking fifth in the third heat (31^st overall) running a time of 7.64.
 
Moving to the long jump, senior Xavier Phoenix finished third place overall with a mark of 6.82m. Graduate student Sidney Walker finished ninth place overall with a jump of 6.37m. The first-year duo of Weston Simak and Lens Demosthene also finished 15^th (6.20m) and 17^th (6.11m) place overall, respectively.
 
Over in the weight throw, sophomore Jonathan Eudja set yet another personal best with a mark of 14.11m to finish ninth place overall. This throw solidified Eudja with the tenth best mark in school history yet again. Fellow sophomore Giovanni Wellington also set a personal best with a throw of 13.47m, good for 11^th overall. Senior Jacob Schaeffer also hit the MAC qualifying standard with a personal best throw of 10.88m (16^th overall).
 
In the mile, senior Shane Artis finished ninth place overall with a time of 4:24.37. Senior Nick Manidis set a personal best in the event with a time of 4:36.54 (28^th overall). Graduate student Matt Santacoloma finished just behind, finishing 29^th overall in a time of 4:39.20. Both Artis and Manidis qualified for the MAC Championships in the event with their performances.
 
Then, in the 400-meter, McCulloch split a 53.47 to take second out of the fifth heat. McCulloch qualified for the MAC Championship in the event.
 
For the 600-meter run, sophomore Patrick Smith took second place out of the second heat with a time of 1:37.31 (ninth overall). Junior John Murphy finished right behind with a time of 1:37.68 (tenth overall). Sophomore Jordan Gallo then finished 12^th overall with a time of 1:42.14.
 
In the packed 800-meter, first-year Jozef Callano finished second in the third heat (11^th place overall) with a personal best time of 1:59.87. Out of the second heat, senior Ben Phillippy finished 13^th overall (fifth in heat) with a season best time of 2:00.54. Sophomore Davis Trump finished right behind in 14^th place with a personal best time of 2:01.69.
 
Moving to the 200-meter dash, Dunbar took first place overall out of the second heat and set the indoor school record with a season-best time of 22.26. Senior Vajon Wilson notched eighth place overall after finishing third out of the first heat with a time of 23.12. Berner then took third out of the sixth heat to place 16^th overall, finishing in a time of 23.84.
 
Heading to the 3000-meter, first-year Dylan Doskocil led the way by setting a massive personal best in a time of 9:06.10, good for 15^th place overall. Graduate students Brian Bruno (18^th place) and Tom Greve (20^th place) finished close behind with times of 9:13.71 and 9:16.03, respectively. Senior Dean Ricco then won the third heat with a personal best time of 9:33.20. Doskocil and Greve qualified for the MAC Championship in the event with their times.
 
Over in the shot put, Schaeffer finished 13^th overall with a throw of 12.90m. Wellington then set a season best with a mark of 13.47m, good for 16^th place overall.
 
In the triple jump, Simak finished sixth place overall with a personal best jump of 13.31m. Simak moved up to third in the indoor record books in the event with his mark. Demosthene then took 17^th overall with a mark of 11.92m.
 
Rounding out the events for the day, there were some notable performances in the 4 x 400-meter relay. Phoenix split 51.58 in the first leg for the B squad. Dunbar then split 51.76 in the second leg for the A team. Phillippy then split 54.42 out of the third leg for the A team. Lastly, Callano closed out the A relay with a 53.68.
 
After qualifying two more athletes, the Bulldogs have 26 individual athletes qualified for the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship, which will be hosted by Alvernia University next Friday and Saturday, February 23-24.