Women's Track & Field | 2/24/2022 5:04:00 PM

For the first time since February 2020, the Liberty League Indoor Track & Field Championships are back. Ithaca College hosts the 2022 edition of the championships on Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26 at Glazer Arena housed in Ithaca's Athletics & Events Center. The Bombers welcome fellow league members Bard College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), St. Lawrence University, University of Rochester and Union College to campus.

The meet begins on Friday at 11:45am with the first event in the pentathlon (60-meter hurdles). At noon, the pole vault is scheduled to begin and track events are slated for a 2pm start with the mile. On Saturday, the championships continue at 11am with the final event scheduled for 3:20pm (men's 4x400-meter relay), followed by an awards presentation.
  
Ithaca is on the hunt for its fourth straight championship. In the latest United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) Division III rankings, the Bombers are one of two conference teams among the top-25 Division III teams. Ithaca is fifth and Rochester is 16th.
 
At the last conference championship in 2020, the Bombers won the meet with 299.5 points over the two days with a margin of victory of 156.5 points. Rochester was the runner-up with 143 points and RPI finished third (110 points).  
This year, Ithaca has eight athletes ranked among Division III's top-15 performers in nine different events. Tia Jones headlines the squad as one of the top sprinters nationally. She paces the division in the 60-meter dash at 7.59 seconds and is ranked second in the 200-meter dash (25.11 seconds). Katelyn Hutchison is also a key sprinter for the Bombers as she is ranked eighth in the 400-meter dash (57.56) and 38th in the 200, good for third among league leaders (26.02). The Bombers, who won the distance medley relay in 2020 (12:30.20), is ranked nationally in the event at 16th with a time of 12:29.02, thanks to Paloma DeMonte, Lindsay Scott, Rachel Rose and Lauren Lobdell. 
 
Three Bombers are ranked among the top-12 nationally in the pole vault with Meghan Matheny, the 2020 Liberty League Co-Field Performer of the Year, atop the rankings at 3.94 meters, improving by .02 from her 2020 season-best (3.92 meters). Martha Kemp-Neilson in seventh (3.80 meters) and Sara Altonen in 12th (3.71 meters). Ariyahna Bernard, who was second in the shot put (12.73 meters) and third in the weight throw (15.74 meters) at the 2020 championship, is 15th nationally in the weight throw at 16.70 meters. She leads the league in the event and is second in the shot put (12.07 meters). 
 
Rochester's Eileen Bequette, who was second in the pentathlon at the 2020 Liberty League championship (3,247 points), is one of the division's top performers in the multi-events. She is ranked seventh after compiling a score of 3,322 points in January. The Yellowjackets also sport some of Division III's top sprinters in Susan Bansbach, Kristin Hardy and Madeline O'Connell. Bansbach, the 2020 Liberty League Rookie of the Year, is second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.44 seconds and 28th in the 200-meter dash (25.78). Hardy is 14th in the 400, crossing the finish line in 57.96 seconds, while O'Connell is 44th at 59.30 seconds. Lisa Pink is 21st in the 800 meters (2:15.83). Ashley Heffernan will also be a key contributor for Rochester as she is among the top-50 in Division III for two events, the pole vault (32nd; 3.51 meters) and 60-meter hurdles (46th; 9.22 seconds).  
 
RPI looks to have a strong showing in the distance events with Morgan Lee pacing the league in both the mile and 3,000 meters while teammate Nia Goddard is second in the 3,000. Lee recorded a time of 5:02.92 in the mile two weeks ago, good for 16th nationally and she is 19th among Division III competition in the 3,000 at 10:01.76. Goddard finished with a time of 10:17.49 in the same event. A pair of athletes are ranked among Division III's top-50 in the high jump. Jacy Scharlow is tied for ninth at 1.68 meters nationally while Maya Verma is tied at 50th in Division III (T-4th in Liberty League) at 1.60 meters. Scharlow is the defending Liberty League champion in the high jump and Verma tied for second in 2020. Kat Morin will be an athlete to watch in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. She sits in second in the 60 (8.02 seconds) and seventh in the 200 (26.64). RPI will also expect a robust performance from Jillian Lees, who is seventh among league leaders in both the mile and 800 meters with times of 5:20.28 and 2:24.21, respectively.
 
The duo of Kathleen Merchant and Kimberly Merchant headline the top throwers on St. Lawrence. Kathleen leads the league in the shot put with a mark of 12.32 meters and is ranked fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 14.55 meters. Kimberly is third among league leaders in both events at 11.73 meters (shot put) and 14.94 meters (weight throw). Maia Wahlquist is third among league leaders in the high jump (1.66 meters). Allison Sibold and Emma Palumbo will both participate in the 800-meters and mile. Sibold is second among league leaders in the mile, crossing the finish line in 5:14.90 with Palumbo not far behind with a time of 5:16.97. In the 800, Palumbo is eighth (2:24.37) and Sibold is 11th (2:26.73).
 
RIT freshman Caroline Hill looks to make an impact at her first Liberty League Track & Field Championship. She is fourth in the conference in two events—the 60-meter (8.07 seconds) and 200-meter (26.22 seconds) dashes. She is also sixth in the 400-meter dash at 1:00.74. Katie Cobos is tops on the team in the 5,000 meters (18:33.85), fourth-best in the league, and 3,000 meters (10:42.78), good for seventh in the conference.