BIRMINGHAM, AL – Three members of the University of Rochester men's track and field team began their competition at the NCAA Division III Championships on Friday afternoon at the Birmingham Crossplex.
 
Senior Scott Sikorski ran in the mile, junior Aeden Angelone took part in the heptathlon and sophomore Cole Goodman competed in the long jump on day one of nationals, which mostly consisted of preliminary competition at the meet.
 
Sikorski narrowly missed qualifying for Saturday's final, clocking in with a time of 4:08.50 in the eight lap race. The senior's effort was the third best in his career and placed him fifth in his heat and 11th overall in the field of 20 runners. Only ten runners, the top-4 finishers in each heat and the next two fastest times were able to advance.
 
Overall, Sikorski finished a remarkable indoor season at nationals, making his fifth straight appearance at an NCAA Championship event, including two cross country, one outdoor and now two indoor track and field appearances. At last season's indoor meet, Sikorski finished tenth in the 800 meters.
 
Goodman, competing in the long jump final, needed his third jump of the day to post a mark after fouling on his opening two attempts. The sophomore earned a distance of 6.80 meters, ranking seventh in his flight. Overall, he placed 17th with his jump, making his second straight NCAA indoor appearance. He will be back in action at 3 p.m. on Saturday in the triple jump, where he enters the competition with the fifth-highest seed mark.
 
Angelone started the seven-event heptathlon with a 16th place run in the 60 meters, posting a time of 7.42 seconds. That result scored him 739 points to open the competition, and was just a shade off his personal-best of 7.36 set at the Liberty League Championships two weeks ago.
 
Shortly after, the junior leapt 6.27 meters in the long jump, adding 646 points to his total. That distance put him 11th in the field of 20 in the event, moving up to 13th place in the overall standings.
 
The shot put event followed, with Angelone ranking fourth with a toss of 12.03 meters, a season-best mark which scored 608 points. That moved him into 11th place in the heptathlon with just under 2,000 points through three events.
 
He closed out the opening day of competition in the high jump, matching his personal-best and setting a new indoor record with his 1.89 meter height. That mark netted Angelone 705 points and was tied for seventh in the field during that event.
 
Through four events on Friday, Angelone sits in eighth place among the 20 individuals with 2,698 points.
 
Day two of the heptathlon starts with the 60 meter hurdles at 11 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the pole vault at 11:50 a.m. The competition wraps up with the 1000 meters at 3 p.m.