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Tigers take on Penn Relays

An annual national spectacle that attracts thousands of spectators, the Penn Relays showcase talent ranging from the high school to Olympic level. Through three heavy days of sprints, relays, throws and jumps, the 112th annual Penn Relays extended from last Friday to Sunday.

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Princeton saw representation from both the men’s and women’s teams but the Tigers also devoted the second half of the weekend to competing at the TCNJ Invitational, a smaller scale competition compared to the relays.

Junior Julia Ratcliffe blew away the competition with a 66.31 meter throw to win her second title in the hammer throw, continuing to bring success to the Princeton team. At the same time, junior Brielle Rowe marked a personal record this weekend, throwing 45.65 meters.

The women’s team also displayed a strong showing in the 5k event. All three of Princeton’s runners, junior Kathrn Fluehr, junior Kathryn Little and senior Erika Fluehr achieved personal records to place 11th, 21st and 24th, respectively, in the event.

Although already in late April, Penn Relays also offers the opportunity for the Ivy League schools to finally compete amongst each other and get exposure to major competition. This year, the 4x400 team of senior Jasmine Blocker, senior Joanna Anyanwu, senior Kim Mackay and junior Cecilia Barowkski placed second in the Heptagonals, behind only Cornell.

Princeton’s time of 3:43.93 in the 4x400 was sufficient to qualify the team for the elite Championship of American Relays later in the weekend.

When the nation’s most elite runners converged upon the Championship of America Invitational, Princeton’s 4x400 team came prepared to compete. The team actually improved by a second to finish at 3:42.7. However, this time placed the Tigers at 8th place out of nine teams.

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Similarly, the 4x1500 team of sophomores Megan Curham, Katie Hanss, Lizzie Bird and Zoe Sims also qualified for the Championship of America Invitational. The sophomore squad would go on to place 7th in its event.

On the men’s side, much of the team could not compete at the Penn Relays. Of those who could, senior Nana Owusu-Nyantekyi led the cohort with a third-place finish in the triple jump. Owusu-Nyantekyi’s jump of 15.65 meters was far enough to earn the senior a personal record.

Senior captain Scott Rushton, who also competed at the Relays, finishing 15th in the shot put, explained that for those who did not qualify for Penn Relays, the TCNJ Invitational was the next option. In fact, many of those who did compete at the Relays also competed at TCNJ to, as Rushton explained, “get as much exposure as possible.”

One of these athletes was freshman Mitchell Charles who finished 17th in the shot put at Relays but then went on to win first at the TCNJ Invitational.

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Results aside, at the end of the day, for Rushton and the rest of the track and field team, this past weekend was an opportunity to grow and support each other. Rushton said, “Teams come from around the world so it broadens the spectrum of our competition… It was intense but everyone was pushing each other to do well. In the end, everyone helps everyone else do well.”

The team now looks forward to the Princeton Open this upcoming weekend.