Shen-109 Bethlehem-70
Shen-105 Guilderland-75
Guilderland-90 Bethlehem-88
The first meet of the year provided somewhat of a scare, as Guilderland gave Shen a run for their money. The score was close with two events to go, but double Shen victories gave the Plainsmen their 94th and 95th consecutive wins.
The 4x800 kicked things off as the team of Horan (2:08), Slater (2:06), Lynch (2:03), and Hansen (2:03) finished first in 8:21, just beating out Guilderland at the line. Bethlehem's Alex Voetsch ran a 2:05 split.
In other track events, Guilderland's Courneen won the 800m with a 2:04.9 and Shen's Chris Cooper was 2nd in the 400m hurdles. Bethlehem performed well in the 4x100 but was disqualified for leaving their lane. Golden Eagle standout Lee Ansaldo won both the 100m (10.6) and 200m (22.7), kicking off his final season for Bethlehem before he departs for Fordham University next fall.
John Lynch won the 3200m with a personal best 10:08.9, but fell short of breaking 10 minutes for the first time, as he outdistance the rest of the field by over 50 meters. Andruski won the 1600m with a 4:36.4 and senior Ammon Nelso won the high jump with a 5-10 effort.
The 4x400 was the last and most exciting event of the day. Junior Erik Ela ran a :53 and hung with Ansaldo to keep Shen in it. Horan and freshman John Hagstrand came through with strong performances, but the Plainsmen still trailed Bethlehem by about 10 meters as senior Sam Silver took the baton for the anchor leg.
Silver cruised through his first 200 and turned it up for the final 200 en route to a personal best :51.9 split, as he just beat out the Bethlehem anchor leg in the final five meters for a team time of 3:35.1.
Other Shen winners were sophomore Andre Vives in the 110 Hurdles (16.0), senior Erik Smith in the shot put (42-5), and junior Dave Vickers in the pole vault (10-0).
Victories 94 and 95 were no breeze and Shen has a tough test coming up on Thursday, as they face Shaker and Niskayuna at Shaker's new track.
