TROY, N.Y. - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is hosting the 2019 Liberty League Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday May at Harkness Field with events scheduled to begin on Friday with the men's pole vault and the men's decathlon 100-meter dash at noon. Events run all day until the final event, the women's 10,000 meter run at approximately 6:50 p.m. On Saturday, events start at 10:00 a.m. with the men's decathlon 110-meter hurdles and the women's heptathlon long jump.

The championship concludes following the 4x400 meter relays (men's at 4:00 p.m.; women's at 4:10 p.m.) with a presentation of team and special awards afterwards. Bard College, Ithaca College, host RPI, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), St. Lawrence University, University of Rochester, Union College and Vassar College are the eight league schools participating in the championships.

RPI won the Liberty League Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship for the 10th consecutive year in 2018. The Engineers easily won the team title with 274 points, nearly double of second-place St. Lawrence (135). The Saints were followed by Ithaca (123), RIT (121), Rochester (95), Vassar (38), Union (28) and Bard. 

In the latest USTFCCCA Division III Men's Outdoor Track & Field Atlantic Regional Rankings, RPI leads the way atop the list in first. Three other league teams are ranked among the top-15 with Ithaca (5th), RIT (7th) and Rochester (12th). The Engineers are also ranked in the top-ten among Division III in tenth.

RPI is poised to earn its 11th straight league title heading into this year's championship as the Engineers have 12 student-athletes ranked among Division III's top-50 in eight different events and they also pace the league in five events. The team is headlined by Grant O'Connor, the 2018 Liberty League Outdoor Track Performer of the Year, who is currently second nationally in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters with times of 14:09.85 and 29:41.45. At last year's championship, Grant won the 5,000 meters (15:01.46) and was third in the 1,500 meters (3:59.14). Noah Falasco is the Liberty League defending champion in the 1,500 meters and he is currently ranked third nationally (3:49.04) and tenth in the 5,000 (14:28.46) while Henry Jacques is 13th (14:28.46). Jacques and Sean O'Connor are also ranked in the 10,000 at 30th (30:45.83) and 17th (30:32.35) respectively. Sean was the individual champion at last year's championship in the steeplechase (9:31.29) and placed second in the 5,000 (15:07.04). Neil Caismir paces the league in the 400 meters with a time of 48.76 seconds, good for 33rd in the nation. Evan White is tops in the league in javelin (56.42 meters) as well as 33rd in Division III and Patrick Butler leads the league in the decathlon with 5,624 points (39th nationally). Other key contributors include Alex Jonson (110-meter hurdles, 50th nationally), Johnny Capobianco (steeplechase, 46th nationally) and Mark Shapiro, defending 2018 Liberty League champion of the shot put (14.07 meters) and discus (43.05 meters).

St. Lawrence brings back Ian Clough, winner of the 100-meter dash at the 2018 league championship (10.7). He is currently second in the event among league leaders with a time of 10.89. He is joined by Evan Page, who was fourth in the 10,000 meters last year (32:56.71) and is third in the league this year (30:39.10, 26th nationally). He was also third in the 5,000 meters a year ago. First-year Connor Lambert is second among league leaders in the decathlon with 5,624 points and first-year Noah Garfield is sixth in the league in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.97. Dylan Babcock will also be someone to watch after placing second in the discus (46.17 meters) and hammer throw (39.67) a year ago.

Ithaca will be led by Daniel Harden-Marshall, winner of the 200-meter dash at last year's championship (21.90) and this year is tops in the league in the 200 (21.63) and long jump (7.15 meters), good for 15th in Division III. He is also third in the 100-meter dash among league leaders (10.89). First-year Dom Mikula headlines the team in the field events as he paces the league in pole vault at 4.70 meters, which also ranks him 23rd nationally. Lee Matthews leads the league in shot put (14.51 meters) while Harrison Buttrick (52.65 meters) and Luke Tobia (52.22 meters) are ranked one-two in the hammer throw.

RIT could also make a run at the title, thanks to the efforts of Matthew Lienhard, Max Gloskey, Matthew Funicelli and Jack Smith. Lienhard has recorded the league's fastest time in the 100-meter dash this year at 10.71 seconds after placing seventh a year ago (11.12). Gloskey, who was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.44) last year has the league's best time in the event in 2019 (15.01 seconds) and he is also ranked 42nd nationally. Funicelli is among the league's top-ten in three events—discus (1st, 48.95 meters), shot put (4th, 14.25 meters), hammer throw (10th, 42.37 meters). Jack Smith will be the team's top jumper as he is second among league leaders in the pole vault (4.56 meters, 42nd nationally) and third in the high jump (1.87 meters). Otto Kingstedt also returns as one of the league's top distance runners. He won the 10,000 meters at last year's championship (32:37.89) and he is fourth in the event among league leaders this year, good for 27th in Division III (30:41.14). The Tigers also have one of the fastest relay squads in the country as their 4x100meter relay squad (Lienhard, Gloskey, Stephen Morrissey and Curtis Geiger) is ranked eighth with a time of 41.41 seconds.

A trio of nationally ranked athletes highlights the 2019 Rochester Men's Outdoor Track & Field team. First-year Dokata Kosi Banchale is 14th in the 400 meters with a time of 48.27 seconds and he is also fourth among league leaders in the 800 meters (1:55.43). Noah Chartier, the 2018 Liberty League javelin champion, is currently second in the event among league leaders at 56.04 meters, which ranks him 37th in Division III. Hunter Phinney, who recorded a third-place showing in the 5,000 meters at last year's championship (15:08.33) is currently 45th nationally in the same event with a time of 3:59.91, good for eighth in the Liberty League.