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Syracuse track and field did not win an individual title at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.

On Thursday, the Orange made a strong performance in the distance events. In the men’s 10,000-meter, grad-transfer JP Trojan (29:11.77) was edged out of the ACC title by less than half a second. Trojan placed 2nd. Senior Joe Dragon (29:12.44) set a new personal best in the event to finish fifth. Matthew Scrape (29:22.43) and Dominic Hockenbury (29:25.83) both finished in the top 20. Alex Comerford (29:38.55) and Silas Derfel (30:17.92) also placed for the Orange.

In the women’s 10,000-meter, Syracuse placed two runners in the top six. Amanda Vestri (32:52.60) placed fourth and Annie Heffernan (33:25.55) took sixth with a new personal best. Earlier this season, Vestri had the third-fastest 10,000-meter time in the nation this season, but fell nearly ten seconds short of her personal best. Jordan Jacob (34:02.58) and Abigail Spiers (34:39.93) both secured top-25 spots. Ellie Lawler (35:07.59) finished 31st.

The Orange continued competition on Friday with the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. In the women’s race, Justus Holden-Betts (10:21.78) set a new personal best for the fourth time this year to finish 14th, it was a 17-second improvement on her time from her first steeplechase of the season in March. In the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior Aidan Tooker (8:50.81) finished 12th.

On Saturday in the men’s 1,500-meter final, senior Simon Smith (3:47.04) placed 11th out of 12 runners. His time of 3:44.06 in the preliminary round was a new personal best.

In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, freshman Anthony Vazquez (14.39) set a new personal best, but placed 7th out of 8 hurdlers. In the preliminary round, Jamil Adams (14.55) missed out of qualification for the finals by just 0.11 seconds.

Jordan Jacob (16:28.02) set a new personal best in the women’s 5,000-meter to lead Syracuse runners with a 19th place finish. Reilly Zink (16:58.45) also set a new personal best to finish 27th, while Emma Eastman (17:25.14) placed 37th. Amanda Vestri and Annie Heffernan both did not start. In February, Vestri won the 5,000-meter title at the ACC Indoor Championships.

JP Trojan (13:49.68) led SU runners in the men’s 5,000-meter to place tenth. Joe Dragon (13:52.48) set a new personal best to finish 11th. Freshmen Sam Lawler (14:17.25) and Ethan Wechsler (14:19.77) each also set personal bests with top-30 finishes.

Although the Orange are finished with conference meets, several runners have qualified for the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round from May 26-29. To qualify, runners had to place among the top 48 times for their respective event. For the women’s squad, Amanda Vestri, Annie Heffernan, and Justus Holden-Betts made the cut. On the men’s squad, JP Trojan, Joe Dragon, Silas Derfel, and Aidan Tooker all hold qualifying times.

Published on May 15, 2021 at 11:14 pm

Contact Connor: cpignate@syr.edu