Lloyd Claims Back-to-Back National Championships
UTICA, N.Y. - Another historic season is in the books for the Lakers. The Finger Lakes Community College men's and women's track and field teams traveled to Mohawk Valley Community College for the NJCAA Division III Track and Field National Championships. The thrilling three-day event featured the top talent in junior college athletics and featured at the event were several Finger Lakes Community College student-athletes, all of whom had career performances in their respective events.
On day one, the Lakers started out in impressive fashion as several of his teammates watched as sophomore Memphis Lohnes (Rushville, N.Y./Rushville) soared to heights of 3.93m to claim second place at the championships for the second-straight year, earning Second-Team All-American honors.
A 4x100m relay team consisting of DeShawn Owens (Dansville, N.Y./Dansville), Nasir Carr (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena), Jose Rivera (Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo), and Memphis Lohnes put together their best performance as a group this season, finishing with a time of 46.48 in the race.
The highlight of the day would come in the 3000m steeplechase event where student-athletes Leah Lloyd (Palmyra, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon) and Morgan Cheney (Prattsburgh, N.Y./Prattsburgh) both looked to claim top-5 finishes. The duo would do just that, with Lloyd becoming the first Laker since Jessie Marianaci in 2008 (high jump) to claim back-to-back NJCAA Division III National Championships. Lloyd bested her time of 12:09.88 at last year's championships with a finish of 11:48.60 this year. Lloyd's mark breaks the previous FLCC women's track and field record in the 3000m steeplechase she had set.
Lloyd's dominance in the event was noted as she finished over a minute and a half faster than the second-place finisher. Teammate Morgan Cheney joined Lloyd in the top five standings, claiming a fourth-place finish, just seconds behind the third-place finisher as they battled for position most of the race. Cheney's finish sets the stage for a highly anticipated 2024 campaign in the 3000m steeplechase as the freshman will have her eyes set on a top-three finish and NJCAA Division III All-American honors.
Day two of the national championships kicked off with a second straight day of decathlon events for student-athlete Memphis Lohnes. Lohnes would cap off his career as a Lakers with a spot on the podium for the decathlon, placing sixth. Fellow teammate Jacob DiGiovanni (Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo) would round out his career as a Lakers in the 10k, finishing with a time of 43:32.67.
Freshman DeShawn Owens (Dansville, N.Y./Dansville) concluded his final event of the national championships, earning his second-best finish of the season in the long jump with a mark of 5.90m. Teammate Jason Hammond (Geneseo, N.Y./Geneseo) would also round out his participation with a mark of 30.79m in the javelin throw.
On the final day of the championships, freshman Jaylen Wims (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) made his mark in the shot put by earning a spot on the podium with a throw of 12.52m to earn a fifth-place finish. In the final event of the day, sophomore Leah Lloyd competed in the 1500m, her last event donning the Lakers blue and green. Lloyd concluded her FLCC career fittingly, placing third in the event with a time of 4:57.32, a personal best, and just 7 seconds behind the first-place finisher. Lloyd's finish earned her NJCAA Division III All-American Honorable Mention honors.
Lakers track and field concludes another season filled with success, building on the program's storied history. The team will return several sophomores and a promising group of incoming freshmen will make their way into the program for what will be an exciting 2024 season.
