Men's Track & Field | 2/24/2017 9:57:00 PM
CANTON, NY – The RIT men's track and field team placed third at the 2017 NYSCTC Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by St. Lawrence University at Newell Field House on Friday and Saturday. RIT recorded 122.50 points, while Liberty League rival Rensselaer won the championship with 196.50 team points.
RIT's 4 x 200-meter relay team of
Matthew Lienhard (Allentown, PA/Allentown Catholic),
Kyle Kaniecki (Burton, OH/West Geauga),
Christopher Callejo (West Babylon, NY/Patchouge-Medford), and
Curtis Geiger (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) picked up the victory by 48 one-hundredths of a second in a time of 1:30.57. That time was just one tenth off the school mark set five years ago.
The Tigers earned 21.50 points on Friday in the pole vault, with four of the top six finishers.
Ethan Maguire (Penfield, NY/Penfield) was second overall with a leap of 4.70 meters, which tied for the top spot. Maguire would try to clear 5.00 meters, which would have won the championship, but was unsuccessful.
Michael Whelton (Boston, MA/Londonderry) and
Jack Smith (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) both had vaults of 4.40 meters, while
Michael Kist (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) was tied for sixth, clearing a height of 4.25 meters.
RIT's distance medley relay team of
Grant Salk (Livermore, CA/Granada),
Rob Dalheim (Rochester, NY/Brockport),
Matthew Meehan (West Caldwell, NJ/Caldwell), and
James Bailey (Danvers, MA/Danvers) finished second overall to Ithaca with a time of 10:20.40. Dalheim was also second in the 500-meters with a time of 1:06.84. Salk placed third in the 1,000-meters, crossing the finish line in 2:33.72.
The Tigers had two top-six finishers in the 5,000-meter run, as
Otto Kingstedt () was the runner-up in a time of 14:45.78 and
Tommy Papish (Strongsville, OH/Strongsville) placed sixth overall in 15:25.97.
Brian Cusack (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional),
Seth Baker (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport), Bailey, and Meehan were fifth in the 4 x 800-meter relay in a time of 8:09.31. Geiger, Callejo,
Eric Hambleton (Weare, NH/Bishop Brady), and
Derek Swarthout (Macedon, NY/Penfield) placed seventh overall in the 4 x 400-meter relay crossing the finish line in 3:27.53.
Nick Ng (Wayland, MA/Wayland) had an impressive third place finish for the Tigers in the long jump, with a leap of 6.57 meters. He was also seventh in the triple jump (13.08 meters).
The duo of
Zach Darling (Rome, PA/Northeast Bradford) and
Jake Saxton (Merrimack, NH/Bishop Brady) exceled in the throwing events over the weekend. In the shot out, Darling was second with a throw of 14.28 meters, while Saxton was third, just a mere quarter of an inch shy of his teammate. Darling and Saxton were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the weight throw. Darling had a top throw of 15.23 meters, while Saxton was right behind with a toss of 14.99 meters.
Myles Garner (Gurnee, IL/Warren Township) (8.61 seconds) and
Jeremy McGrath (Chittenango, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) (8.95 seconds) were fourth and seventh in the 60-meter hurdles finals. Garner was second in the prelims with a time of 8.53 seconds. Lienhard was third in the 60-meter dash in 7.13 seconds, after going 7.08 seconds in Friday's prelims. Geiger was third overall in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.79 seconds. Kaniecki placed seventh in the event. Callejo and
Eric Hambleton (Weare, NH/Bishop Brady) placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 400-meter dash finals. Meehan was eighth in the 800-meters.
RIT is back in action next Saturday, March 4, as they compete at the Tufts Last Chance Qualifier in Medford, Mass. at 11 a.m.
