ITHACA, NY – The University of Rochester men's track and field team claimed its first ever Liberty League conference title following a spectacular two days at the 2022 Liberty League Indoor Championships at Ithaca College this weekend.
 
Rochester accumulated 174.5 team points, edging out host Ithaca (165) and RPI (150.5) late to earn the title. It was UR's first since joining the Liberty League in track and field starting in the 2017-18 season. Finishing off the team standings were RIT in fourth (85), St. Lawrence fifth (53), Union sixth (28) and Bard in seventh (4).
 
On Saturday alone, the Yellowjackets claimed three conference titles individually, had three NCAA top-50 performances, set one new meet record, one new school record and had 13 All-Atlantic Regional qualifiers. Rochester also had a total of 26 podium finishes, eight of which were in the top-3.
 
Junior Scott Sikorski set the new school record, running away with the league title in the 800 meters. He ran a time of 1:52.39, now the #3 time in Division III this season and set a new meet record in the process. Sikorski, just two weeks removed from setting the Rochester mile record, trimmed .05 seconds off the previous UR 800 meter record of 1:52.44 set by Dokata Kosi Banchale in 2020.
 

Rochester dominated in the heptathlon, claiming five podium finishes, leading to 24 team points. Senior Jarod Forer rallied for the event win, posting first place results in the final two events of the competition, the pole vault and 1000 meters, to reach his winning total of 4,259 points. Forer earned 731 points for clearing 4.40 meters in the pole vault, nearly a full meter ahead of the next closest jumper. In the 1000 meters, he led a 1-2-3-4 finish for UR, winning in 2:50.06.
 
Joining Forer on the podium in the multi-event competition was Alex Opsahl in third with 4,168 points, Cole Siewert in fifth (3,703), Lucas Thiele in sixth (3,632) and Gabe Thyne in eighth (3,531).
 
UR's final event win of the competition came from first-year triple jumper Cole Goodman. Goodman earned a key 10 points for the team with his jump of 14.35 meters, a regional qualifying performance. Teammate Sam Lorenzetti also earned a personal-best jump of 13.34 meters, good for fourth place.
 
Sprinters Mitch Lienert, Gabe Lundy and P.J. London all earned three podium finishes on the day for the Yellowjackets. All three, along with Sikorski ran on Rochester's third place 4x400 meter relay team which posted a time of 3:23.82 and is now ranked inside the top-30 in Division III this season.
 
Lienert paced Rochester's finishers in the 60 meters, posting an AAR time of 7.15 seconds in the finals. London was sixth in the race at 7.23 seconds, with Lundy placing seventh (7.28 seconds).
 
Lundy led the group in the 200 meters though, clocking in with a personal-best time of 22.43 seconds, ranking second in the race. That regional qualifier cracks the NCAA's top-50 this season. Lienert ended fourth in the same race with a regional time of 22.83 seconds and London finished in seventh (23.10 seconds).
 
Rochester had four scorers in the weight throw, all of which were new personal bests. Senior Ryan Swavely led the contingent with a third place mark of 16.14 meters. Nolan Ragland was fourth at 15.34 meters while James O'Neill ended fifth with a toss of 15.01 meters. All three head to regionals following their performances. Finishing off the scoring in the weight throw was Jordan Johnson who posted a PR toss of 14.63 meters.
 
Kicking off day two's competition was hurdlers Peter Brodnik and Adam Smith. Brodnik placed third in the 60 meter hurdles event with a personal-best time of 8.55 seconds, qualifying him for regionals. His teammate Smith finished fifth in 9.03 seconds, as the pair combined for ten team points.
 
In the 3000 meters, first-year James Catania ran a strong race, finishing fifth in 8:38.81. Zach Spergel edged onto the podium from heat one with a time of 8:43.60, finishing just ahead of teammate Sean Hendricks who was ninth in 8:45.21. All three times were fast enough to qualify for Atlantic regionals.
 
UR had two other scorers on the day, with Thiele claiming seventh in the high jump (1.70 meters) and Christian Voloshen finishing eighth in the 800 meters (1:58.59).
 
Rochester's next meet is the All-Atlantic Region Indoor Championships which are taking place next weekend at Nazareth College. Those who have qualified for this meet will use the competition as their final chance to get high enough on the Division III performance list to potentially qualify for the NCAA Championships in mid-March.