UAlbany Win America East Men’s + Women’s Indoor Track Championships

The University at Albany has quietly become a power in a number of sports, despite their more high profile struggles in men's basketball. Yesterday, they tightened their stranglehold on America East indoor track, sweeping the men's and women's conference championships yet again.

UAlbany's men's championship is their eighth in a row, and their tenth in 11 years, a run of success that has never been seen before in the conference. The women's title marked their third in four years.

Not only did the Great Danes win the championships, they demolished the competition. The women's squad won by over 100 points, totaling 233.5 points compared to just 131 for the second place Retrievers of UMBC. The men won by a smaller margin, only managing to squeak out a 97 point victory (that was sarcasm), with 231.5 points compared to second place Binghamton's 134.5.

Among the top performers for the Great Danes was Alexander Bowen who, named Most Outstanding Field Performer, set a conference record in the high jump, skying for 7' 3.25". I, meanwhile, can't touch the rim on a regulation sized basketball hoop.

Also leading the way for the Danes was Kathryn Fanning, who won both the 1,000m race and the mile.

Head coach Roberto Vives has built the UAlbany track and field program into easily the best program on campus, and has built an America East dynasty in the process. With the football team's move to the Colonial Athletic Association, the recent performance of the women's basketball team, regular success in field hockey and volleyball, and constant competition for conference titles in lacrosse, the school as a whole has stepped its game up from an athletics standpoint, something that is great for the area as a whole.