Another impressive weekend for track and field

Both the men's and women's track and field teams returned to Jadwin Gymnasium to host their season home opener at the New Year’s Invitational this past Friday, after convincing performances in the Metro Holiday Meet at Ocean Breeze Park in Staten Island a week prior.

Facing off against competition mainly from Rider and Monmouth, the men’s track and field team dominated its opposition. In the track events, freshmen Charles Volker and Josh Billington finished first and third in the 60m event, with Volker impressing with a time of just 6.79 seconds, 0.10 seconds faster than second place Bryan Sosoo of Monmouth. Billington finished at 6.95, while sophomore Carrington Akosa and junior Brent Albertson finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Tigers also claimed a 1-2-3 finish in the 300m event, with senior Dan McCord leading the way with a 34.94 seconds mark, followed by sophomore Josh Freeman and junior Bryant Switzer. McCord and Freeman were also part of the 4x400 relay team that finished first, alongside junior Jabari Johnson and sophomore Brennan O'Connor, finishing with a time of 3:20.04, beating out Rider by over two seconds.

There was similar success in the 600m and 1000m events, as the team claimed a 1-3 finish in the 600m, and a 1-2 finish in the 1000m. Winning the 600m was sophomore Eric Schulz with a time of 1:20.14, while junior Stephen Rossettie finished the 1000m event in 2:31.96, only a quarter of a second faster than second place, sophomore Jared Lee.

The Tigers were also dominant in the field events, as they won the high jump, pole vault, triple jump and the heptathlon. Claiming first in the high jump was freshman Andrew Diehl, who finished with a mark of 1.97m. The pole vault was once again dominated by senior Adam Bragg, who cleared the 5.43m mark, while sophomore August Kiles was a convincing runner-up, beating the third-place finisher by half a meter. In the triple-jump, freshman Stefan Amokwandoh eased by Rider's Allen Killiebrew, finishing with a jump of 14.48m. The Tigers also managed to dominate the heptathlon, with seniors Jake Scinto and Bryan Oslin finishing 1-2, with Scinto scoring 5238 and Oslin 4992.

The women’s team was similarly impressive in the track and field events. The 300m event marked absolute domination for the women, as they claimed five of the top six spots, led by sophomores Christina Walter and Madelyn Baron, Walter finishing first with a time of 40.91 seconds.

There was even more domination in the 600m and 1000m event. In the 600m event, the first six finishers were all Princeton runners, with senior Cecilia Barowski leading the way at 1:30.33, a full four seconds from sophomore Ashley Forte. The 1000m event was run by only three Princeton women, and freshman Alie Fordyce claimed first place at 2:58.93.

Although the women could not claim the victory in the 60m hurdles, they did manage to finish second to fifth, led by junior Allison Harris. The 4x400 relay teams were also dominant, as the first two finishers were the Princeton teams, with the team consisting of Barowski, senior Meghan McMullin, sophomore Quinn Parker and freshman Allison Glossinger finishing first with a time of 3:51.82.

The field events also saw success for the women’s team, as Harris claimed first place in the pole vault event, clearing the 4.00m mark, a good 0.50m better than her runner-up. The triple jump was also won by a Tiger, as freshman Kerri Davidson dominated and finished with a 11.91m mark.

Most impressive on the day was sophomore Kennedy O’Dell, who won two events comfortably. She claimed the shot put with a 13.19m mark, beating out senior Taylor Morgan for the victory, and O’Dell claimed the weight throw as well, clearing the 16.90m mark.

The men’s team will go back on the road after the break as they travel to Annapolis, Md. to face Navy in a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 9, while the women's team will remain at home as they host the second of three consecutive home meets, the Quad Meet on Friday, Jan. 8, at Jadwin Gymnasium, beginning at 5 p.m.