TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's track & field team - and women's - swept the Liberty League weekly awards for the period ending December 15. Junior Neil Casimir earned Track Performer of the Week, senior Mark Shapiro was tabbed Field Performer of the Week and freshman Luke Lyons captured Rookie of the Week. This is the second honor of the year for Casimir and the first for the other two.

At the Pioneer Winter Classic hosted by Utica College, Casimir (Johnson City, NY / Johnson City) had a win in the 400 meter dash and a runner-up in the 200 - the only two events in which he competed. He captured the 400 with a time of 50.47, beating 10 others, including Lyons who was the runner-up with a time of 51.15. In the 200, Casimir ran a 22.80 and was defeated only by an unattached competitor who finished in 22.17. There were 31 runners in the event.

Last week, Casimir was recognized after winning the 400 meter dash (50.36) and finishing second in the 200 (22.72) at a meet at Smith College.

On Saturday at Utica, Shapiro (Glastonbury, CT / University) finished second of 22 in the weight throw with a distance of 16.26 meters and third of 18 in the shot put with a throw of 12.74 meters. He reached his maximum distance in the shot on his third attempt and was only .01 from second place. He was .64 from winning the weight throw, getting to 16.26 on his fifth attempt. 

Lyons (Rochester, NY / Webster Schroeder) helped the 4x400 relay team to victory and ran second in the 400 meters over the weekend. He ran the leadoff leg in the relay, which had a time of 3:30.93 to win by nearly four seconds (3:34.17), and finished second to Casimir in the 400 with his 51.15. There were 11 competitors in the 400 and seven teams in the relay. 

RPI finished second in the seven-school, multi-divisional meet, losing to Westfield State University by a single point (148-147). The Engineers are back in action on January 18, also at Utica.