SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The track and field teams return to action when it hosts the Syracuse Welcome Back Invitational on Saturday, January 16 at Manley Field House. Forty student-athletes will represent the Orange in competition against teams from Binghamton, Colgate and Cortland, among others.

Syracuse Welcome Back Invitational competition will begin at 11 a.m. with the men's high jump and pole vault, while the running events are scheduled to begin at noon.

Senior vertical jumps specialist Melissa Romero headlines the women's competitors, after earning a gold-medal finish in the high jump at the Cornell Relays with a 1.65m. Danielle Sherwood, Leah Testa and Paris McLean will also feature in jumps competition for the Orange while multi-events specialist Kelsey Rubeor will tune up for indoor pentathlon competition.

Junior Lareea Chisholm will lead the sprinters, after placing second in the 60-meter dash at Cornell. Charma Harris joins Chisholm in sprints competition, after earning a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter with a 7.90.

Mid-distance competitors Mary Elizabeth Long, Roseda Lo and Christine Zivica also return to the track after combining to earn a second place finish in the 4x800 relay their last time out. Senior Maegan Krifchin is scheduled to make her season debut at the Welcome Back invite while classmate Raquel Clarke and sophomore Kelly McCarthy round out the mid-distance contingent.

The distance runners make up one of the deepest squads for the Orange, with seven competitors set to run the 3,000m. Graduate student Nana Sang-Bender and senior Lynne Mundy will set the pace for the group, after finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the event at Cornell.

The men have an equally strong group set for distance competition, with six student-athletes competing in the 3,000m, including juniors Mike Brocks, Corey Robinson and Pat Murray.

Sophomores Kris Kolewe and Ryan Ellis will represent the Orange in mid-distance competition, while rookie Tyler McCully features in sprints competition. Kolewe, Ellis and McCully teamed with freshman Jack Cogan to earn a seventh-place finish in the 4x800 relay last time out.

The Orange will also look for strong results from junior throws specialist Kwaku Boah, who placed sixth in the shot put at the Cornell Relays with a toss measuring 13.86m.

Multi-events specialists Evan Stivala and Frank Taylor will feature in horizontal and vertical jumps competition in preparation for the indoor heptathlon while rookie Will Watson will look to improve on his seventh-place finish in the triple jump.