POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The University of Rochester men's track and field team piled up eight All-Atlantic Regional qualifying performances, nine point scorers across six finals and ten other finals qualifiers from preliminary heats during day one of competition at the Liberty League Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Vassar College on Friday.
 
Through the six finals events contested on the opening day, Rochester's men sit fourth in the team standings with 26 points. Ithaca is first with 73, followed by RPI (56) and RIT (40). Vassar, St. Lawrence, Bard and Union round out the eight team competition.
 
The Yellowjackets top result of the finals on Friday was junior Frederick Liu finishing in third in the long jump. Liu's personal-best mark of 6.70 meters was good enough to qualify him for the regional meet. Teammate Cole Goodman wasn't far behind him, placing fifth with a 6.66 meter leap.
 
UR had two personal-bests and two regional qualifiers in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Max Hughes placed sixth in 9:43.96, while Nate Brunacini ended one spot behind in seventh after crossing the finish in 9:45.19.
 

Rochester had three scorers in the hammer throw, led by Nolan Ragland who had a regional qualifying toss of 49.11 meters, placing him fifth in the field. Ryan Swavely ended sixth with a mark of 46.58 meters, while James O'Neill ended eighth with his throw of 46.51 meters. O'Neill also scored in the javelin, placing seventh for the Yellowjackets with a mark of 48.04 meters.
 
Senior Jarod Forer was the final scorer for the 'Jackets on day one, ending eighth in the pole vault with a height of 3.95 meters.
 
Although he finished off the podium in the 10,000 meters, Nick Gaitanis is headed to regionals after his run of 32:38.32 bested the qualifying standard in that event.
 
After day one of competition in the ten-event decathlon, Rochester has five of the top-7 scorers, including 1-2-3. Aeden Angelone leads the field with 3,255 points, followed by Alex Opsahl in second with 3,156 points. Forer is third with 2,980 points with Lucas Thiele and Cole Siewert ranking sixth and seventh after Friday's competition.
 
Among Rochester's event finals qualifiers in the shorter distance races, three notched AAR performances. Scott Sikorski and Daniel Ford were regional qualifiers in the 800 meters, with Peter Brodnik booking a regional time in the 110 meter hurdles.
 
Sikorski had the top prelim time of 1:55.58, with Ford qualifying fifth in 1:56.98. Brodnik had the third quickest hurdle time of 15.31 seconds.
 
A trio of runners also qualified for two finals, with Mitch Lienert and P.J. London both moving on in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Adam Smith will run in the finals of both hurdle events, covering the 110 meter and 400 meter distances. John Moyer will also run in the 400 meter hurdle finals, as he was the fifth fastest in the prelims.
 
Day two competition gets underway starting at 10:30 am on Saturday.