Orange Set Host of PRs at Cornell and Boston

Friday, January 30

Boston, MA

Syracuse University

John Thomas Invitational

1/31/2026 9:44:00 PM | Track and Field

The Syracuse track and field teams were at a pair of meets on Saturday, with a group of men's distance runners racing at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston, and members of both squads heading down to Ithaca, N.Y. for the Cornell Invitational.

In Boston, Peter Walsdorf was the top finisher of a group of 10 Orange runners in the 3,000-meters. He finished 13th overall, but fifth collegiately in the 229-man field that featured numerous professionals. Nine of the 10 competitors walked away with a new collegiate best time.

Walsdorf finished 13th in a PR time of 7:52.29. He was followed by Ben Gabelman (7:55.98/19th), Assaf Harari (7:57.76/24th), Connor Ackley (8:01.24/32nd), Drew Zundell (8:02.50/35th), Louis Small (8:07.79/51st) and Julian Franjieh (8:09.47/53rd), all setting new PRs. Julian Franjieh finished 53rd (8:09.47), followed by two more collegiate bests in Connell Alford (8:15.03) and Omar Alsaidi (8:27.45).

Ruben Rojas Betanzos led the way in the mile, finishing in 4:05.04, which earned him 24th overall and a new personal best. Charles Guerrera (4:07.28) also added a PR in 37th, while Asher Danielson (4:08.12) took 45th.

At Cornell, the Orange swept both 60-meter hurdles events. Isaiah Hayes won the men's event in a time of 7.98 seconds, setting a new personal best. Tawakal Omar took fifth in 8.29 seconds. He also ran a time of 8.26 seconds in the prelims.

Taleea Buxton also set a PR while winning the women's final in 8.29 seconds. Emeline Clark was fifth (8.63 seconds), but ran a faster prelim time (8.55 seconds) and Ivana Richards (9.13 seconds) was 11th.

Nicea Jones was runner-up in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 55.99 seconds. Shayla Ford was fourth (58.40 seconds) and Richards (1:02.39) placed 12th.

In the mile, the top-four 'Cuse finishers all set new collegiate bests. Maisie Burns (4:57.33) took fourth, followed four spots back by Sarah Lawson (5:06.06) and Beatriz Fernandez (5:06.55) in 10th. Blake Parker finished 12th (5:17.34) and Alycia Hart (5:22.68) was 16th.

Tristan Thurneyeson was fifth in the mile, crossing the line in 4:16.00.

Esther Ganda (7.77 seconds) was sixth in the 60-meter dash, setting a new career-best time. Jada Williams also PRed in 8.29 seconds, taking 12th. Bianca Williams was 15th in 8.63 seconds. Nasir Adams placed 13th in the men's event (7.48 seconds).

Sierra Joseph led the way in the 200-meter dash, placing sixth in a time of 25.56 seconds. Mia Hernandez was ninth in 26.34 seconds, followed by Nylah Robinson (28.16 seconds), Andrea Pomales (28.32 seconds) and Leah Bello (29.02 seconds) in 16th, 17th and 19th, respectively.

Kayla Harding placed 14th in her first collegiate 800, crossing the line in 2:52.72.