The track and field team closed out its outdoor season at the Patriot League Championships last weekend at the Naval Academy, with the men finishing fifth out of nine teams and the women placing ninth out of 10. The men’s fifth‑place showing marks their best outdoor finish since 2019.
Three Leopards reached the podium with bronze medals: senior Bobby McClosky in the javelin (214’ 4”), senior Ben Hill in the pole vault (16’ 3.5”) and junior John Liedtka in the 110‑meter hurdles (14.13), a performance that also broke the school record.
“I am grateful for the bronze medal and know next year I could be standing up there with the gold,” Liedtka said. “You will never achieve something unless you believe it yourself first.”
Liedtka tied the school record from 2019 in the preliminary races, running 14.42 for fifth, then exploded in the final to lower the mark by nearly three‑tenths of a second and climb two spots.
“I had the fastest hurdler in the league to my left, and my race plan was to get out of the blocks quick and stay with him,” Liedtka added. “That’s exactly what I did.”
Sophomore Kaseme Leckie mustered a sixth-place finish in the 100‑meter (10.61). In the 400‑meter hurdles, junior Dexter DeMarco placed sixth (54.80) and senior Zach Barban finished eighth (55.72).
Senior Liam Sawian earned fifth in the decathlon with 6,270 points. Sophomore Javin Petry took sixth in the hammer (180’ 4”), while junior Niko Williams placed seventh in the discus (150’ 11”) and eighth in the javelin (198’ 11”).
The men’s 4×800‑meter relay also delivered a historic moment, breaking a school record set by the relay squad earlier this season with a time of 7:33.09 to finish fourth. The lineup featured seniors Quinn Worrell and Titan Casey, along with freshmen Hunter Parsons and Tegan Kovacs.
On the women’s side, sophomore Kendall Collier scored twice, placing fifth in the 10,000‑meter (35:36.36) and eighth in the 5,000‑meter (17:22.97).
“As a team, I felt like everyone gave it their all,” junior Maddie Still said.
Freshman Kennedy Miller earned sixth in the hammer (170’ 10”), Still finished seventh in the javelin (131’ 7”) and freshman Sophie Agner placed eighth in the high jump (5’ 1.75”).
“I was a little upset with the height of bars I was clearing, but points are points, especially at leagues,” Agner said, adding that she hopes to get more consistent in clearing higher bars for the coming season.
While the team’s season came to a close with conference championships, McClosky extended his Leopard tenure at the NCAA East First Round at the University of Kentucky, marking a rare post-graduation competition for a Lafayette athlete. McClosky placed 20th out of 48 competitors in the javelin with a throw of 211’6.”