The men’s track team placed fifth Saturday at the Upstate Challenge at Cornell University. The majority of the teams competing were from Division I, but despite the heavy competition, the Blue and Gold held were able to place above Division I Colgate University.

Sophomore Kyle Devins placed third in the triple jump at 43-03.25, in addition to a seventh place finish in the long jump at 20-08.00.

“I was trying to work on my technique and get some good jumps in,” Devins said. “My expectations weren’t too high.”

Freshman Travis Johnson placed just behind Devins in fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 42-9.75.

Johnson said he aimed to take advantage of the small number of participants in this event by placing within the top six.

“I came in and did better than I expected to do,” he said. “ Whenever you do that, its just success.”

Sophomore Jeff Wetmore had Ithaca’s top finish in the running events, placing fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.15.

Wetmore said he was satisfied with his performance on Saturday and optimistic about his progress this season.

“Though I’ve only ran in two meets, I feel good about it,” he said. “I’m happy for the first time running this year.”

Wetmore said his main goal was to avoid getting injured before another week of tough training to prepare for the Empire 8 championships Feb. 1 at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Devins said a good performance at the conference championship will have to stem from strong performances by the team’s young runners.

“I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of freshman stepping up,” Devins said. “We’ll still be training hard this week and I expect good numbers next week.”

The next action for the South Hill squad is at 4 p.m. Friday at the Penn State National Open in University Park, Pa.