Men's Track & Field | 2/13/2016 5:43:00 PM
CANTON, NY – Markus Hines (Buffalo, NY/Hutchinson Tech.) tied a school record in the 60-meter dash as the RIT men's track and field team claimed victory in the 2016 Liberty League Indoor Championships, hosted by St. Lawrence on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers, ranked No. 15 in the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll, finished with 178 points to come out on top. RPI finished second with 162 points, while St. Lawrence scored 153 to round out the top three.
It is the third indoor track title in five years, since joining the Liberty League prior to the 2011-12 season. The Tigers entered the Liberty League with back-to-back indoor championships in 2012 and 2013.
"I was really proud of the men today," said RIT men's track and field head coach
David Warth. "They set a goal several weeks ago of winning and went out and did it. All four groups contributed. It was a very well-rounded victory - a true team victory."
The highlight in the afternoon was the performance of Hines, tying the record set by former Tiger Cameron Lee in 2013. In the 60-meter dash finals, Hines finished in 7.18 seconds to win back-to-back championships in the indoor event.
The Tigers, which finished with four event victories, put on dominating performances in the 60-meter hurdles and the pole vault. Garner lead a 1-2-3 finish for RIT in the hurdles. Garner finished the event in 8.61 seconds, with
Jordan Sellers (Denver, PA/Garden Spot) (8.67) and Frank Borsetti (8.86) right on his tail. In the pole vault, Nicolas Perez and
Michael Whelton (Boston, MA/Londonderry) blew away the competition. Perez reached 4.49 meters, capturing his third straight pole vault title, while Whelton finished right behind him, reaching 4.34 meters. Whelton also had a close call in the high jump, finishing in a tie for first with Erik Trinkle of RPI, jumping 1.93 meters. However, Trinkle made the mark in less jumps, so the 10 points was awarded to Trinkle.
In the 1-mile run,
Jon Pelzar (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) won the event in 4:20.52, while finishing second in the 3,000-meters in a strong time of 8:41.71.
Curtis Geiger (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) earned two second-place finishes, just missing out on a victory in the 200-meter and 400-meter dash. In the 400-meter event, Geiger finished just over a second behind the eventual winner in 50.89, and in the 200-meter event, he was 37-hundreths of a second from victory, finishing in 22.97.
In the final event of the afternoon, the triple jump, Emmanuel DoDoo and Nicolas Ng took second and third place, respectively. DoDoo jumped 13.40 meters, just off the winning mark. Ng followed right behind him with a final jump of 13.05 meters.
The Tigers will next compete in the Brockport Golden Eagle Invitational on Feb. 20, in a tune up before the NYSCTC Championships on Feb. 26 at Ithaca College.
