HOUGHTON, NY – The Houghton track & field teams hosted 8 teams for their annual Highlander Invitational on Saturday. There were teams from NCAA Division I, II, III represented at the meet. At the meet, Houghton had 19 athletes meet the soft standard performance qualifications for the Empire 8 Championships, in late February. Hayden Williamson and Andrew Ryan led the way for the Highlanders. Williamson won the high jump, and just missed the regional qualifying standard of 1.57m. Ryan jumped a 40+ centimeter personal best in the long jump (6.38m) for second place in the competition. Both marks sit top 4 in the Empire 8 this year.
 
Coach Hager commented after the meet, "I think this was one of our better starts to the new year. It started off with some great energy in our field event groups, and trickled down to the rest of the meet. It's a group that really enjoys being together. We had some people come back strong in their second event, after not quite performing well in their first. It was just a fun meet to be a part of. We finished it off with singing the doxology with 100+ athletes and coaches from various teams. What a fantastic opportunity."
 
Other top finishes included Amanda Burrichter finishing 2^nd in the Mile, James Eustace 4^th in the 800m, Caleb Kasper 7^th in the Mile, Katie Widmer 5^th in the Long Jump, Kathryn Evans 8^th in the Weight Throw, Evan Kurtz 4th in the 200m, and many more great performances.
 
The Highlanders track & field teams will be back in action on 1/27 at RIT.