Full Results

UTICA, N.Y. - Strong performances by the Union College men's relay teams and senior Charlie Alekson's victory in the 1500-meter race led the Garnet Chargers to 56 points as they opened the outdoor season at the Pioneer Spring Invite at Utica University Saturday.
 
The Garnet Chargers began their outdoor relay season in a big way, picking up the victory in the 4x100. First-Year Nate Okwaning, junior Sam Ahern, first-year Aaron Binion, and senior Ryan Hilliard put together a 43.74 second time, over a second ahead of Plattsburgh in second to pick up 10 points.
 
In the 4x400, Union put three teams together that finished sixth through eighth. Ahern, senior Ben Trantanella, junior Ben Neff, and sophomore Aidan Savitt took home three points with their sixth-place finish in 3:42.17, while first-years Jackson Klehr, Will Bonnette, Kye Norcross, and junior Kyle Collins finished in seventh in 3:43.83. Junior Nick DeBaise, first-year Bretton Garrick, sophomore Will Plante, and sophomore Drew Hill rounded out the Union trio in 3:47.35.
 
Senior Charlie Alekson took home the win in the 1500 meters, crossing the line in 4:03.37, over a second ahead of the second-place finisher to score 10 points. Junior Ryan Russell posted a personal best with a 4:07.73 clocking by over four seconds, good for fourth and five more points for Union.
 
Sophomore Jason Bois scored the team's first points of the day in the 110-meter hurdles race. While Bois came in second with a 15.53 time, the first-place finisher ran unattached, allowing the sophomore to tally the team's first 10 points of the outdoor season.
 
Junior Liam Beck rounded out the top 10 with his 17.17-second run, while junior Chris Brandreth posted a new personal best in the event.
 
In the next event, the 200-meter run, Ahern and Hilliard combined to add nine points to the Union column. Ahern came in second with a personal outdoor-best time of 22.04, good for eight points, while Hilliard broke the 23-second mark for the first time in his career with a 22.81 second showing, gaining one point with his eighth-place finish. Binion also timed a personal-best 23.19 showing in the event.
 
Binion later added another personal best in the long jump, scoring a 5.86-meter jump, while Hilliard scored three more points with his sixth-place finish in the triple jump.
 
On the field side, sophomores Tony Cocchiaro and Adam Hecker posted personal bests in the hammer throw before classmate Mason Lang posted an outdoor-best 12.97-meter throw in the shot put that saw him finish third and score six points in the final event of the day.
 
Union finished their season-opening meet with 56 points, and ended the day in fifth place, 11 ahead of sixth-place Hamilton, 12 up of seventh-place Colgate, and 13 clear of eighth-place Le Moyne. The javelin throw will take place Sunday morning to finish up the Invite and will determine Union's final placing in the meet.
 
Union will return to the Capital Region and make their 518 debut of the 2023-24 track and field season this upcoming Friday when they participate in the RPI Under the Lights Invitational, set to begin at 3:00 PM in Troy.