Records fall as women's track competes at Duke Invitational

The women's track team opened its season Friday at the Sam Howell Invitational at Weaver Track and Field Stadium and at Duke University in the Duke Invitational.

While the competition at Duke was stronger overall, several Tigers posted impressive performances at both meets, including a record-setting performance in the 800-meter race by junior Lauren Simmons.

Sophomore Rachel Rosemeyer captured the discus title with a throw of 38.21 meters and senior Kristi Rosso outpaced the field in the steeplechase, finishing first in a time of 11 minutes 20.1 seconds.

As on the men's side, more than one Tiger freshman made a strong contribution. Most notably, Betsy Kennedy competed in two separate field events. Kennedy finished second behind Rosemeyer in the discus with a throw of 37.8 meters and third in the javelin, throwing 38.02 meters.

Kennedy was not Princeton's only multiple-event athlete of the weekend. Junior Catherine Casey ran in both the 1,500 and 3,000-meter races at Duke, finshing eighth in the 3,000-meter with a time of 9:55.53. Other impressive performances at Duke included junior Emily Enyon's fourth place finish in the 10,000-meter in a time of 37:55, finishing only seven seconds behind the third place runner from Edinboro University.

The highlight of the weekend was clearly Simmons' performance in the 800-meter. Not only was her time of 2:07.83 good enough for a top-ten finish at the highly competitive Duke meet, but Simmons also bested the Princeton record in the event by a scant .16 seconds. Michelle D'Agostino '98 posted the old record of 2:07.99 in the ECAC championships her senior year.

The Tigers will be back on the track this Friday in a tri-meet with Yale and the University of Pennsylvania at Weaver Track and Field Stadium.