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Syracuse track and field began its 2024 indoor slate on Saturday at the Nittany Lion Challenge in State College, PA. The Orange, who were without their distance runners and field athletes, ended the meet with four first-place finishes – all coming in the 60-meter events.

Taleea Buxton exploded out of the blocks to win the women’s 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.43 seconds. Shaleah Colaire was not far behind, finishing in second place at 8.54 seconds. Peyton Rollins missed the finals by just .02 seconds, coming in ninth in the preliminary race at 9.00 seconds.

The men’s 60-meter hurdles finals included six SU athletes and two from Pittsburgh. Syracuse secured the top six spots in the event. Jaheem Hayles crossed first (7.93), followed by Anthony Vazquez (7.96) and David Peters (8.00). Emanuel Joseph finished fourth (8.01), Naseem Smith was fifth (8.04) and Isaiah Lewis (8.14) crossed sixth.

The first-place finishes continued for SU in the open 60-meter dash. Kahniya James took home the top spot in the women’s action with a time of 7.535, narrowly defeating the second-place finisher by .003 seconds. Trei Thorogood finished first in the men’s race, notching a time of 6.67.

Then, in the 400-meter race, freshman Shayla Ford landed 12th in the women’s competition with a time of 59.10. In the men’s race, Elijah Mallard pulled away from the field in the final 100 meters. Mallard’s 48.26-second mark led to a fourth-place finish. Penn State’s Cheickna Traore recorded the fastest time in the event with a blistering 46.50.

The 200-meter race followed. On the women’s side, Kaleia Arrington came in ninth (25.15), Rollins landed in 11th (25.29) and Olivia Garner finished in 21st (25.70). For the men, James Nmah notched seventh place in 22.11 seconds.

In the final competition of the day, the SU women’s 4×400 relay team — Ford, Kirstyn Schechter, James and Colaire — won its heat and placed 12th overall with a time of 4:00.94. In the men’s race, Nmah, Thorogood, Vazquez and Mallard earned seventh with a time of 3:18.99.

Saturday’s meet came after more than a month-long break for Syracuse. The last time the Orange competed was Dec. 1 and 2, when the team sent separate athletes to the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, MA and the Greg Page Relays in Ithaca, N.Y.

Next up for Syracuse is the Gotham Cup on Staten Island on Jan. 19.

Published on January 13, 2024 at 7:43 pm

Contact Nicholas: ajalumka@syr.edu