Ponder Leads Way as Pioneers Open Season at Nazareth

Zion Ponder (Rochester/School of the Arts) led the Alfred State men's indoor track & field team with a 2nd place finish in the high jump as the Pioneers opened up the season at the Nazareth Invitational.

Ponder cleared a height of 1.89 m (6-2 1/4) to tie for the top performance of the night but earned 2nd place based on tie-breaker rules.

Zack Rudewicz-Nepokroeff (Williamsville East) was 3rd in the long jump with a leap of 6.57 m which ranks 8th all time. Shawn Rosa (Middletown) was 9th in the 300 m (37.63) and is now 7th all-time.

The quartet of Jacob Drew (Corning Painted Post), Jhamir Brown (Elmira), Collin Stauffer (LeRoy), and Waleed Muhammad (Manhattan/LaSalle) was 2nd in 3:44.79 while the team of Cameron Chambers (East Rochester),  Rosa, Cameron Howard (Brockport), and Rudewicz-Nepokroeff was 3rd in 3:45.19. The marks are 3rd and 4th best all time.

Other top performances included:

• Gilbert Boateng (Yonkers/Riverside) was 8th in the 60 m dash (7.47).
• Brown was 10th in the long jump (6.06 m) and Stauffer was 12th (5.94 m). Brown was also 10th in the triple jump (11.91 m).
• Matt Connolly (Elmira Notre Dame) was 12th in the 3,000 (9:55.81)

The multi athletes head to Edinboro tomorrow while some members of the team will head to Houghton next Friday.