Coming off its Empire 8 Championship victory Saturday, the men’s track and field team competed in the Ithaca Open yesterday at Butterfield Stadium.  

No team scores were kept at the meet, and all the athletes were able to see how they fared against other athletes from SUNY-Cortland, SUNY-Delhi, SUNY-Oneonta, Herkimer County Community College and SUNY-Cobleskill.

“This was kind of a practice meet to get our times down and for individuals to qualify for states if they hadn’t already,” senior Michael Wodarski said.

Wodarski qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.60. He also placed third in the 400-meter hurdles.

Multi-event athlete Doug Koury said he used the meet to build up confidence for when he competes in the NYSCTC Decathlon, which will be held Saturday at Butterfield Stadium. The freshman won the high jump, clearing a height of 1.93 meters for a spot in the ECAC Championships. Koury also competed in the pole vault for the first time all season, but decided not to compete in his usual event, the 200-meter dash.

“I had done a lot before the 200 meters and I didn’t want to chance getting injured,” he said.

Staying healthy for the final stretch of the season was important for the Blue and Gold. Junior Jon Lin said that the team’s goal going into the meet was to stay healthy.   

Ithaca’s relay team, which had some members suffer injuries early on, ran in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:34.55. Max Orenstein, a member of the relay team, earned individual recognition by qualifying for the ECAC Championships in the 400-meter dash. The sophomore sprinter finished with a time of 49.63 to win the event.    

The young Bombers shined at the meet. Freshman thrower Rich Lickfield placed first in both the hammer and the discus, while freshman jumper Eric Ambrosino was the winner of the triple jump at 12.66 meters.

The next action for the South Hill squad is tomorrow and Friday in Philadelphia.