2024 FINAL RESULTS (COMPLETE)
TROY, N.Y. – The 2024 Liberty League Outdoor Track & Field Championships finished up on Saturday at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)'s Ned Harkness Harkness Field & Track with the final 30 events (15 men's, 15 women's) of the championship.
The University of Rochester women earned their third consecutive Liberty League outdoor title as the Yellowjackets led from start to finish with 209 points over the two days. Ithaca College was the women's runner-up with 175 points, and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) rounded out the top-three teams with 135 points. Vassar College finished fourth with 108 points, only seven ahead of host RPI, who compiled 101 points. The Engineers were followed by Union College (67), St. Lawrence University (33), and Bard College (1).
RPI repeated as team champions for the second straight year, and they cruised to the 2024 men's outdoor title with a two-day total of 308.5 points, nearly 100 points (95.5) ahead of runner-up Rochester, who totaled 213 points. RIT came in third with 121.5 points, while Union (51), St. Lawrence (47), Ithaca (33), Vassar (31), and Bard (11) rounded out the eight league teams.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
- WOMEN: 1. Rochester, 209; 2. Ithaca, 175; 3. RIT, 135; 4. Vassar, 108; 5. RPI, 101; 6. Union, 56; 7. St. Lawrence, 33; 8. Bard, 1
- MEN: 1. RPI, 308.5; 2. Rochester, 213; 3. RIT, 121.5; 4. Union, 51; 5. St. Lawrence, 47; 6. Ithaca, 33; 7. Vassar, 31; 8. Bard, 11
MEET AWARDS
- WOMEN:
- Track Performer of the Meet: Haley Schonegge, Vassar College – Schoenegge was a dual champion with individual victories in both the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters; she recorded meet record times in both events. In the 1,500 she crossed the finish line in 4:28.96, winning by three seconds, and in the 5,000, she recorded a time of 17:02.02 to defeat the next finisher by over 11 seconds.
- Field Performer of the Meet: Emily DiMarco, RIT – DiMarco finished among the top three in the two throwing events she competed. She won the discus throw with a toss of 40.72 meters and finished second in the shot put at 12.50 meters.
- MEN:
- Track Performer of the Meet: Josh Iheighu, RPI – Iheigu was a dual champion with victories in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. In the 100, he crossed the finish line first in 10.70 seconds and he followed that up with a conference record time of 21.51 seconds in the 200. He also helped RPI's 4x100 relay to victory as the Engineers won by 0.18 seconds.
- Field Performer of the Meet: Cole Goodman, Rochester – Goodman was recognized as Field Performer of the Meet for the second straight year. He was a dual champion with long and triple jump victories. In the long jump, he set a conference record jump of 7.58 meters. In the triple jump, he was the first of six Yellowjackets in the event at 15.16 meters.
DAY TWO HIGHLIGHTS
WOMEN
- It was a Rochester sweep in the hurdles with Rochester senior Ashley Heffernan recording her third individual win of the championship in the 100-meter hurdles. It was a battle as she defeated runner-up Ithaca sophomore Laura Suppa .004 seconds for gold; Heffernan crossed in 14.521 seconds to Suppa's 14.525. First-year Nora Chen was the individual champion in the 400-meter hurdles with a Liberty League Championship record time of 1:01.86 (1:01.87, 2019).
- Heffernan also posted her third individual victory at the championship in the 100-meter dash. She posted a Liberty League conference and championship record with a time of 12.08 seconds, breaking records from 2019 (12.11 seconds; conference) and 2021(12.12 seconds; championship) and she won the event by 0.17 seconds.
- Vassar College first-year Haley Schoenegge won two events, shattering a pair of Liberty League Championship marks in the process. In the 1,500 she crossed the finish line in 4:28.96, winning by three seconds. The previous record was 4:30.32, set in 2021. in the 5,000, she recorded a time of 17:02.02 to defeat the next finisher by over 11 seconds, breaking the record time of 17:12.32 set in 2016.
- RIT sophomore Sadie Rose posted a pair of wins, placing first in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. In the 200, she broke a conference record with a time of 24.14 seconds (24.59, 2023). In the 400, she clocked a time of 55.07 seconds en route to her second victory of the championship.
- Vassar sophomore Jahmilia Dennis won the triple jump for the second straight year with a leap of 11.65 meters.
- Ithaca first-year Lydia Barber recorded an individual victory in the high jump at 1.59 meters. Classmates Madeleine Wright and Celia Ryan in second and fourth, respectively. Union first-year Ashley Sheldon also tied for second with Wright.
- RIT junior Emily DiMarco won the discus throw with a toss of 40.72 meters. Teammate first-year Bailee Drummond was also among the top three at 39.67m. DiMarco was also the runner-up in the shot put (12.50m), finishing behind Rochester junior Deziree Garrick, who won the event at 12.53 meters.
- Rochester was the winning relay in the 4x100 with the quartet of Tina Kyriacou, Alyssa Hoogs, Heffernan, and Madeline O'Connell, combining for a time of 47.98 seconds. RIT (Caroline Hill, Sydney Burgard, Samantha Crisci, Sadie Rose) won the 4x400, as the squad posted a time of 3:57.90, with a margin of victory of over three seconds.
- Ithaca first-year Madeleine Wright was the Liberty League champion in the Heptathlon. She finished with 3,846 points; 256 ahead of runner-up Vassar junior Faye Stevens (3,590 points). Wright won the high jump (1.68m) and shot put (8.58m) while placing in the top three in the 800-meter run (2nd, 2:32.14) and javelin (3rd, 23.50m). Stevens posted a win in the long jump at 5.02 meters and was runner-up in the javelin (25.10m).
MEN
- RPI's depth in the distance events was on full display with six of the top-eight finishers in the 1,500 meters and seven of the top eight in the 5,000 meters, including first through fourth all going to the Engineers. In the 1,500, Junior Cory Kennedy paced the 28 runners, finishing with a time of 3:51.36. Junior Matthew Smalling and senior Davis Piercy placed third and fourth with times of 3:52.08 and 3:52.46, respectively. In the 5,000 meters, a trio of RPI junior Mitchell Dailey (14:53.79), Vince Simonetti (14:55.30), and Jonathan Craun (14:59.40) went one-two-three in the race and all three crossed the finish line in under 15 minutes. Senior Cory Kennedy rounded out the top four with a time of 15:08.
- Not to be outdone by the distance runners, RPI's sprinters also saw much success on the track this weekend. Sophomore Josh Ihegihu swept both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes for the Engineers. In the 100, he crossed the finish line first in 10.70 seconds and he followed that up with a conference record time of 21.51 seconds in the 200
- It was another RPI victory in the 400-meter run with first-year Alex Flynn earning gold as he clocked a time of 49.11 seconds in the event. Peter Cavanaugh also took second for the Engineers at 49.52 seconds.
- Bard senior Jack Keelan closed out his career at the Liberty League Outdoor Championship in style by winning the 800-meter run with a meet record time of 1:51.20. He shatters the previously held record of 1:52.16 from last year's championship by nearly one second.
- RIT junior Max Stein earned the individual victory in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.20 seconds.
- Union sophomore Jason Bois was the individual champion in the 100-meter hurdles with a .005 second margin of victory at 14.862 seconds, finishing ahead of sophomore Cortez Garrett (14.867). Garrett was also the runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles (53.66).
- Rochester junior Cole Goodman was a dual champion with victories in the long jump and triple jump. In the long jump, he set a conference record jump of 7.58 meters. In the triple jump, he was the first of six Yellowjackets in the event at 15.16 meters. Classmate Sam Lorenzetti and senior Kyle Lane finished second and third at 13.86 and 13.74 meters, respectively.
- RPI also recorded a win in the 4x100-meter relay with the quartet of Max Liu, Ronen Stewart, Flynn, and Ihegihu combining for a winning time of 42.14 seconds. Rochester was second with a time of 42.32 and Union was not far behind for third at 42.37. In the 4x400-meter relay, RIT (Ryan Senf, Stein, Michael Sardo, Jack Defeo) came out on top, posting a time of 3:17.163 and narrowly defeating RPI (Cavanaugh, Domenick Rayleonard, Ihegihu, and Flynn) by .005 seconds.
- Rochester earned wins in both the shot put and discus throw. First-year Ethan Beer earned a win in the shot put with a heave of 14.42 meters on his sixth and final attempt of the championship. Junior Jordan Johnson posted a throw of 45.53 in the discus on his fifth attempt for the gold medal.
- The Yellowjackets also had the top-two finishers in the decathlon with Aeden Angelone earning the individual victory with 6,358 points. Gabe Thyne compiled 6,087 points through the 10 events. Angelone posted first-place showings in the long jump (6.42m), high jump (1.84m), and pole vault (4.00m). He was also second in the 100-meter dash (11.68), shot put (11.96 meters), 110-meter hurdles (16.33), and javelin throw (51.37m). Thyne won four of the events—100-meter dash (11.51), high jump (1.84m), 400-meter run (49.90), and 110-meter hurdles (16.04).