ITHACA, NY – The University of Rochester men's track and field team sits in second place following the opening day of competition at the 2024-25 Liberty League Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Ithaca College inside Glazer Arena.
 
Day one saw the Yellowjackets win two events, notch eight All-Atlantic Region Indoor Track & Field (AARTFC) qualifiers, tally six top-three finishes and set a new school record in the shot put.
 
Senior Jordan Johnson notched UR's first event win of the day, breaking the program record in the shot put, which had stood for 25 years. Johnson's 15.23m throw, good for an AARTFC qualifier and first place in the shot put, beat out the previous record, set by Jim Schweiegerling in 1990, by a quarter of an inch.
 
Ethan Beer joined Johnson on the podium with a fourth-place finish and 13.91m throw, while Dylan Rykert just missed advancing to the finals, placing 10th overall with a 13.00m toss.
 
Rochester added its second Liberty League Champion in the long jump, where Cole Goodman led a quartet of 'Jacket jumpers in the top six of the competition. Goodman won the event with a meet-record and an AARTFC-qualifying 7.26m leap, the 8th-best long jump in Division III so far this season.
 
Sam Lorenzetti finished third, notching another AARTFC qualifier with a new personal-best 7.02m leap, currently ranked 47th in DIII this season, while Manny Eribo took fourth with another regional qualifier, jumping 6.70m. Austin Lansey then rounded out the top six for the Yellowjackets, finishing sixth with a 6.54m leap.
 
Elsewhere in the field events, Cody Reeth took home third place in the pole vault, notching an AARTFC qualifier with his 4.47m height, while Emmett Hansen took seventh place with a 4.17m height.

Hansen also joined three other Yellowjackets in the heptathlon, currently sitting in fifth through the first four events of the competition. Hansen set season-best marks in all four events, placing fourth in the 60 meters (7.39) and shot put (10.42m), fifth in the long jump (6.35m) and 10th in the high jump (1.66m) to tally 2,436 points, good for fifth heading into the final three heptathlon events on Saturday.

Gabe Thyne sits in first place in the heptathlon with 2,648 points, 104 points shy of the second-place competition in the 12-person field. Thyne finished first in three of four events on Friday, topping the podium in the 60 meters with a new PR of 7.25 seconds, the long jump with a 6.45m jump and the high jump, surpassing the 1.84m bar. While in the shot put, Thyne finished sixth with a 10.32m toss.

Ashton Tokarski is one spot ahead of Hansen in fourth with 2,473 points, while Jack Maness is in 11th with 2,197 points. Tokarski finished sixth or better in all four of Friday's events, placing fourth in the long jump with a new PR of 6.36m, fifth in both the 60 meters (7.41) and shot put, setting a new PR with a 10.33m throw, and sixth in the high jump (1.72m).

Maness scored his best finish in the 60 meters with a new personal-best time of 7.49 seconds, good for eighth, while adding ninth-place results in both the shot put (9.45m) and high jump (1.66m) and a 12th-place finish in the long jump (5.67m).

In the track events, Sean Hendricks got the Yellowjackets day started with fourth-place finish in the mile, hitting an AARTFC qualifier with his 4:16.23 time.

Two Yellowjackets qualified for Saturday's 60-meter hurdles final in the prelims, while another three will run in Saturday's 60-meter final.

Thyne and Mark Magyar both qualified in the 60-meter hurdles, with Thyne finishing sixth with a new PR of 8.71 seconds, while Magyar finished right behind him in seventh at 8.78 seconds.

In the 60 meters, Mitch Lienert, Reward Mulauzi and Ronan Marston each won their heat to qualify for Saturday's final. Lienert was UR's top finisher, with his 7.026-second time good for third, while Mulauzi finished fourth at 7.028 seconds, a new personal best, and Marston came in fifth at 7.047 seconds.

Evan Bryant was Rochester's lone scorer in the 400 meters, clocking in at 50.84 seconds, good for sixth, while Owen Hatungimana placed 10th, crossing the finish line in 51.74 seconds.

Vishal Yalamanchili wrapped up the Yellowjackets' individual performances on day one with an eighth-place result in the 5,000 meters, clocking in at 15:21.86, good for another AARTFC qualifier before UR's distance-medley relay wrapped up the evening and day one's competition.

Jacob Bernd, Skye Crocker, Colin Hascup and Brendan McCollum combined to finish second in the DMR with a 10:23.99-second time, another AARTFC qualifier.

With seven events in the books, the Yellowjackets sit in second place with 64 points, with RPI leading the field with 117.5 points, while RIT sits in third with 33.

Rochester will be back on the track for day two of the 2024-25 Liberty League Indoor Track & Field Championships in Ithaca, NY at 11:00, with the women's high jump and men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles getting things started.