William Smith scored not only scored the first seven points but quickly ran up a 14-point lead with 3:37 left in the first half. Heading into the lockers, the Herons led 30-16 as the visiting Red Hawks shot just 18.8 percent from the floor in the first half.

Despite outscoring William Smith 37-34 in the second half, RPI was unable to overcome the 19-point deficit, cutting it down to 10 at 1:42 to play after a pair of free throws by junior Caitlyn Charest. RPI was led by senior guard Missy Jackman with 18 points and junior Elizabeth Barker with a double double 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Track & Field

The indoor track and field teams finished their seasons at the New York State Championships with the women in fourth and the men in ninth place. The University of Rochester won the meet on the women’s side, while St. Lawrence University won for the second consecutive year.

For the women, senior Marion Albert won her 400-meter event with an NCAA provisional time of 58.39. The time beat her earlier mark this season to re-set the school record. Junior Sarah Hinz, sophomore Cassie Fortini, and freshman Rachel Guillot combined with Albert to win the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:04.17.

In the 500-meter dash, Guillot placed fifth (1:20.18) followed by teammate junior Ashley Aust in sixth (1:21.03). Sophomore Jessica Batty’s time of 8.85 took third in the 55-meter hurdles, while classmate Kathryn Markowitz was third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:42.02. Freshman Connor Ahlborn finished fifth in the shot put with a distance of 11.47 meters.

For the men, senior Adedeji Akindele-Alo had an NCAA provisional and school record time in the 55-meter hurdles. He finished in second with a time of 7.62 that beat the previous school record set in 2001. Sophomore Kyle Barden was fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.72. The 4x800-meter relay team took third with a time of 8:05.62; the team consisted of sophomore Seth Pearson, freshman Nate Marsan, junior Bryan Murphy, and sophomore Mike Zampi.

Freshman pole vaulter Alex LeBlanc led the field events with a second place finish, first among freshmen in the event, with a height of 4.56 meters. Classmate Sean Miller finished seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 13.16 meters.

Although the season is done for the teams, several members will return to action next weekend at the ECAC Championships hosted by Harvard University.

Swimming and Diving

The men’s swimming and diving team finished the three-day New York State Championships in second place posting 1,121.50 points. Alfred University edged RPI by just 76 points to take the State Championship title.

Working hard for the men was sophomore Brian Roth who placed fifth overall in the 200-backstroke with a time of 1:55.49. Senior Kevin Sheridan also put in a solid effort, winning a fourth place in the 100-freestyle with a time of 47.59, and fifth in the 200-buttterfly with a time of 1:57.24. He also contributed to the fifth place time of 3:10.70 in the 400-freestyle relay along with freshmen Kevin Canada, Michael Tung, and Brandon McDowell. McDowell also placed eighth in the 200-backstroke with a time of 2:00.59. RPI finished second and third in the 200-breaststroke with junior Steve Hall and freshman Julian Schott putting down times of 2:10.15 and 2:11.02 respectively. Junior Matthew Culen finished third overall with a score of 456.15 points.

Some members of the team will return to action on March 20 at the NCAA championships hosted at Miami University’s Aquatic Center.

The women’s team finished fifth at the meet with 691 points, while Union College handily took the Championship title with 1,207 points.

Leading the women was senior Kelly Owens who posted an NCAA B cut time of 2:26.42 in the 200-breaststroke. Sophomore Aimee Catroppa finished sixth in the event with a time of 2:31.13. Catroppa’s time of 2:12.87 in the 200-butterfly was good for fourth while junior Sara Orndorff’s 54.83 in the 100-freestyle put her in seventh. Senior Stephanie Tomasulo placed sixth in the 3-meter event with a score of 323.45 points.

Women’s Lacrosse

The Women’s lacrosse season opened in the rain Tuesday afternoon in Springfield Mass. as the Red Hawks trounced Western New England College 14-7. Senior Carly Strife led RPI with three goals and two assists. Freshman Stephanie Caouette had a big showing in her collegiate debut with three goals and an assist, while sophomore Sam Fennessey showed she hasn’t lost the touch since last season and also found the back of the net three times.

Sophomore Whitney Kukol had a goal and an assist while senior Morgan Wahl and junior Emily Donowick each had one goal apiece.

Sophomore Ariana Hood had nine saves in net for the Red Hawks in the win.

After taking an early 4-0 lead, the Engineers went up 7-1 by the half and found the second half to be much of the same.