TROY, NY – Led by event wins from Cole Goodman and Jordan Johnson, the University of Rochester men's track and field team sits in second place following the first day of action at the 2024 Liberty League Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by RPI at the Ned Harkness Field & Track.
 
Goodman led a plethora of Yellowjackets in a dominant individual and team performance in the long jump, one of six finals on the opening day of competition. Goodman smashed the school, conference and meet records with his 7.58m leap, setting the No. 1 mark in NCAA Division III on his third attempt.
 
Four Yellowjackets joined Goodman in placing in the long jump, with Kyle Lane, Manny Eribo and Sam Lorenzetti rounding out the top five, while Kyle Kelsey finished eighth. Lane came in third with a 7.04m leap, a new personal best and the 45th-best jump in DIII this season, while Eribo scored fourth place with his 6.90m jump. All three of Goodman, Lane and Eribo's jump also hit the All-Atlantic Regional (AARTFC) qualifier mark.
 
Lorenzetti rounded out the top five, jumping 6.79m, while Kelsey set a new PR with his 6.50m jump to finish eighth.
 
Johnson won his Liberty League title in the hammer throw, leading a field of 21 competitors, including five 'Jackets, four of which placed in the top eight. Johnson's 55.41m throw set the standard in the event, a new PR and an AARTFC qualifier, and also currently ranks 30th in Division III.
 
Nolan Ragland came in third with his 51.13m toss, another regional qualifier, while Kevin Fobare set a new personal-best throw with his sixth-place result and 48.00m throw, while Zajans Crapo finished eighth (46.53m).
 
Both Johnson and Crapo also scored for the Yellowjackets in the javelin toss, with Johnson placing sixth, hitting another regional mark (54.16m), while Crapo added another eighth-place result to his line with a 49.62m throw.
 
In the final field event of the day, Cody Reeth was UR's top finisher in the pole vault, adding another regional qualifier with his sixth-place finish, surpassing the 4.45m bar.
 
In the two finals on the track, the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 10,000 meters, Rochester had three runners score, two in the steeplechase and one in the 10,000 meters. Nolan Goldthwaite earned a fourth-place finish in the steeplechase with a time of 9:42.13, a new PR and AARTFC qualifier, while Drew Garringer placed eighth, clocking in at 9:59.07, another new, personal best.
 
Nick Gaitanis then came in seventh in the 10,000 meters, crossing the finish line in 31:24.99, seventh overall, a new PR and a regional qualifier.
 
Overall on the first day of competition, the Yellowjackets tallied 11 AARTFC qualifiers and more than 12 new personal bests.
 
In the preliminary events on the track, the Yellowjackets sent nine runners to Saturday's finals. Garrett Dietrich kicked things off with an eighth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, qualifying for Saturday's final with a new personal-best 16.32s time.
 
In the 400 meters, Evan Bryant was UR's lone qualifier, coming in fourth at 50.42s, another new PR.
 
P.J. London qualified for both the 100 and 200-meter finals on Saturday, placing fifth in the 100 meters with a 10.85s time, while coming in third and winning his heat in the 200 meters, clocking in at 21.89s. Both of London's times hit the AARTFC marks, while his 200-meter time set a new personal best.
 
Also in the 100 meters, Eribo finished eighth with a new PR of 11.04s to qualify for Saturday's 100-meter final, while Mitch Leinert placed sixth (22.20) in the 200 meters to advance.
 
Sean Hendricks earned a spot in Saturday's 800-meter final, winning his heat with a 1:56.93 time, good for ninth overall, while Mark Magyar (6th, 57.79) and Nick Krein (7th, 58.39) both placed in the 400-meter hurdle prelims, with Krein setting a new PR.
 
In the decathlon, UR has three of the top four competitors through the first five events. Gabe Thyne leads the nine-person field with 3,376 points, with Aeden Angelone close behind with 3,358 points in second place, while Ashton Tokarski sits in fourth with 2,985 points.
 
Thyne took first place in three out of the first five events, finishing first in the 100 meters (11.51), high jump (1.84m) and 400 meters (49.90), while placing second in the long jump (6.33m) and fourth in the shot put (10.03m).
 
Angelone finished in the top three of all five events, winning both the long jump (6.42m) and high jump (1.84m), while placing second in both the 100 meters (11.68) and shot put (11.96m) and third in the 400 meters (52.60).
 
Tokarski turned in his best finish in the high jump, setting a new PR with his 1.75m leap, good for third, and added top-five finishes in both the long jump (6.14m) and the 400 meters (53.92) while placing sixth in the 100 meters (11.79) and seventh in the shot put (9.35m).
 
Through six events, the Yellowjackets sit in second place with 61 points. RPI is in first place with 84 points, while RIT sits in a distant third with 32.
 
Rochester will kick off day two of the 2024 Liberty League Outdoor Track & Field Championships with the decathlon 110-meter hurdles at 10:30 a.m., with rest of the track & field events getting started at 12:00 p.m.