BROCKPORT, N.Y. -- Sophomore Jacob Futch continued a tradition of pole-vault success at Fredonia State, winning the event on Day 1 of the SUNYAC Championship Meet on Friday.  Futch cleared 4.55m and qualified for the regional meet. Noah Snyder was fifth (4.25m), and Blake Hageman was eighth (3.80m). Head coach Tom Wilson -- a pole vault alum from Fredonia State -- also saw the team win the women's vault and place three female athletes in the top five.

Futch cleared his first three attempts on the first try -- heights of 4.25, 4.40, and 4.55m. He could not get over the bar set at 4.70.

Stephen Hallberg was second in the 5000m in a time of 15:22.28, seven seconds off the winning pace set by Cortland's Brandon Mullholland. Hallberg, a sophomore from Jamestown H.S., is the reigning SUNYAC cross country champion.

The men's distance medley relay team of Sean Moser, Aiden VanAmburg, Edward Jourden, and Kaden Worthley finished fourth out of 10 teams.

The team ranks second after the finals of five events. Ten more finals will take place on Saturday.


For the women...
For the fourth year in a row, senior Cara Pellechia took the top spot in the women's pole vault at the SUNYAC Indoor Track & Field meet. She cleared 3.70m.

Pellechia started at 3.35m and cleared that on her first try. The same with 4.50 and 3.70m. She could not clear 3.78m in her three attempts. She handily defeated Cortland's Faith Hoyt who cleared 3.35m -- the height of Pellechia's first attempt.

Emily Cardinale was third at 3.20m, and Skylar French was fifth at 2.90m as the Devils earned 20 team points in the event, propelling them to third place after Day 1 and five events. 

Freshman Yauvani Liddelow was third in the triple jump at 11.00m which did qualify her for the regional meet. 

The women took sixth in the distance medley relay. Siera Shenoy, Evelyn Zdrojewski, Emily Frank, and Juliana Rodriquez each ran a leg. 

The finals for 10 more events will take place on Saturday. Several events have prelims on Friday, as well.