ITHACA, N.Y. - Ten of the top 12 finishers in the 5000 meters and four of the top eight in the mile were Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) runners and the Engineers concluded day 1 of the two-day Liberty League Indoor Track & Field Championship in first place. Rensselaer had at least one student-athlete score in each of the seven completed events for a total of 75.5, which puts them in the lead in the seven-school meet. 

RPI compiled 34 points in the 5000 meters by boasting seven of the top eight finishers, including the first three. Cory Kennedy won the event in a time of 14:53.88, moving from 15th place at the start to fifth at 1600 meters to second at 3400 meters and into first at 3600. His best 200 meters was his last when he ran a 30.01, which kept him about a second in front of teammate Vincent Simonetti, the runner-up (14:54.99). Simonetti, who had been in first late in the race, also had his best 200 in his last, going 31.56.

Owen Szabo finished third, Jason Gibbons was fifth, Patrick Smyth was sixth, Grey Conover was seventh and Dan Stevens was eighth to contribute to the team's point total. They all crossed the finish line within 20 seconds of each other.

In the mile, Matt Lecky set the meet record and the facility record with a winning time of 4:10.99. He started in the middle of the pack before climbing into second place at 1009 and then taking the lead at 1209. His final 200 of 28.28 led all racers and he won by nearly two seconds ahead of the runner-up (4:12.34). John Reed was second on the team and fourth overall with Davis Piercy and Dylan Rosemark placing sixth and eighth, respectively. 

Also victorious was Rensselaer's distance medley relay team of Matthew Smalling, Robert Dabney, Rosemark and Abel Hagos, who clocked a time of 10:33.63. That unit, which collected 10 points, had nearly an eight second win over the second place team (10:41.16). 

Luke Lyons and Shawn Putman both earned five points for the team by finishing fourth in the 400 meters and long jump, respectively.

RPI holds a lead of only 1.5 points over second place Ithaca College (74), while the University of Rochester is third with 58.5 points. The meet is being held at Glazer Arena housed in Ithaca College's Athletics & Events Center and concludes on Saturday.