FINAL RESULTS (COMPLETE) |
Team photos taken by Stockton Photo, Inc.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Liberty League Outdoor Track and Field Championships concluded on Saturday at Vassar’s Weinberg Track & Prentiss Complex with the final 30 events (15 men’s, 15 women’s) of the championship.
The University of Rochester women’s track and field team captured its first Liberty League Track & Field title since joining the conference in the sport in 2017-18. The Yellowjackets leapfrogged over day one leader Ithaca College who was ahead by 27 points, 79 to Rochester’s 52. Rochester totaled 230 points through the two days of competition, narrowly edging the runner-up Bombers (216) by 14 points.
The Ithaca men’s team earned its first outright Liberty League Outdoor Track & Field title after earning a share of the honors at last year’s split conference championship with West Champions accolades. This year, The Bombers compiled 211 points through 21 events, building upon yesterday’s day one lead of 17 points. Ithaca cruised to the team title and eclipsed second place Rochester by 29 points.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
- WOMEN: 1. Rochester, 230; 2. Ithaca, 216; 3. RPI, 132; 4. St. Lawrence, 98; 5. Vassar, 60; 6. RIT, 47; 7. Union, 24; 8. Bard, 8
- MEN: 1. Ithaca, 211; 2. Rochester, 182; 3. RPI, 145; 4. RIT. 129; 5. St. Lawrence, 56; 6. Vassar, 49; 7. Union, 35; 8. Bard, 9
MEET AWARDS
WOMEN:
- Track Performer of the Meet: Susan Bansbach, Rochester – Bansbach helped the Yellowjackets to their first Liberty League Track & Field title. She had a hand in shattering the meet record in the 4x100 meter relay (48.27 seconds) by a little over .20 seconds, running the second leg in the event. Individually, she won two events— the 200-meter dash (24.81 seconds) and 800-meter run (2:12.84, meet record). Bansbach was also the runner-up in the 100-meter dash (12.26 seconds).
- Field Performer of the Meet: Logan Bruce, Ithaca – Bruce competed in six events over the two-day championship. She opened the meet with a first-place showing in the long jump (5.71 meters). Bruce also had a runner-up finish in the javelin with a throw of 36.91 meters. She was also the top qualifier in the 100-meter hurdles (14.49 prelim time; 14.25 finals) followed that up with a gold medal in the event. Bruce was also part of Ithaca’s second place 4x100-meter relay squad (49.02 seconds). She also finished fourth in the high jump at 1.53 meters and sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.48 seconds.
MEN:
- Track Performer of the Meet: Nate Oczkowski, Ithaca – Oczkowski earned gold medalist honors in three track events: 110-meter hurdles (15.12 seconds), 400-meter hurdles (53.03 seconds) and 400-meter dash (50.02 seconds). He not only recorded top times in the finals, he also had the top time in the preliminaries in all three events. He also broke a meet record from 2021 (53.13 seconds) in the 400-meter hurdles.
- Field Performer of the Meet: Kevin Danaher, Ithaca – Danaher was a dual champion at this year’s championship. He won the shot put at 6.11 meters and the discus with a throw of 45.41 meters. Danaher was also ninth in the hammer throw at 46 meters.
Highlights from Saturday’s championship action
WOMEN
- Rochester swept both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. In the 4x100, the quartet of Kate Isaac, Bansbach, Ashley Heffernan and Madeline O’Connell shattered a meet record combing for 48.27 seconds. They shaved 0.16 seconds off the record set in 2018 by Ithaca (48.43 seconds). In the 4x400, the Yellowjackets won the event with a time of 4:02.25.
- RPI’s Morgan Lee earned two individual titles with wins in the 1,500-meter run (4:41.21) and the 5,000-meter run (17:44.36).
- In the 400-meter hurdles, RIT’s Marissa Dispenza was the Liberty League champion in the event with a time of 1:02.99.
- Heffernan won the 100-meter dash with a finish of 12.26 seconds and Ithaca’s Katelyn Hutchison earned the individual victory in the 400-meter dash (46.18 seconds)
- In the heptahlon, two Ithaca athletes finished one-two with Moriah Byrd winning the multi (3,967 points) and teammate Abbey Stowell finished 20 points behind Byrd with 3,947 points. Rochester’s Iva Savic rounded out the top-three, compiling 3,289 points.
MEN
- Ithaca won the 4x100 relay—Anthony D’Adetta, Aaron Davis, Akap Takor and Andy Frank finished with a time of 42.33 seconds.
- RIT’s quartet of Trenton Goyette, Justin Jantzi, Otto Wilson and Matthew Skakal won the 4x400 meter relay, posting a time of 3:20.44.
- In the 5,000 meters, RPI placed three runners among the top-three with John Reed, Matt Lecky and Cory Kennedy leading the race with 37 total competitors. Reed posted a meet-record time of 14:29.29, breaking the one set by RPI in 2019 (14:36.85). Lecky finished three seconds later, also ahead of the meet record and Kennedy crossed the finish line in 14:39.37.
- Ithaca earned individual victories in three sprinting events, two of which were won by Andy Frank. Frank, won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.76 seconds and claimed first in the 200-meter dash at 21.76 seconds.
- Rochester’s Scott Sikorski was Liberty League Champion in two events—800-meter run and 1,500-meter run with times of 1:53.29 and 3:55.55 respectively.
- In the decathlon, there were seven entries at the championship and the top-four finishers were athletes from Rochester. Alex Opsahl was the top Yellowjacket through the 10 events with 5,895 points.