The Ivy League is witnessing the reign of a full-fledged track and field dynasty that has Princeton's men's and women's squads seeing red for yet another year.
The host Tigers could find no chinks in Cornell's armor last weekend in the Big Red's sweep of the Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Championships at Weaver Stadium. Both Princeton teams came away with second-place overall finishes, highlighted by standout performances in the individual events.
Cornell, meanwhile, is now riding a five-year winning streak in the men's outdoor championships and six-year winning streaks in both the indoor and outdoor women's championships.
For the men, second place meant going home without the Heptagonal triple crown after winning the cross-country and indoor championships earlier this season. For the women, the runner-up finish at Heps marked a significant improvement from their fourth-place standing in the indoor championships last February.
"It was a fantastic meet," women's head coach Peter Farrell said. "You hope for the best every time they go to the line and the best happened. We came closer to maximizing our potential this weekend than we have in a long time."
Several of the Tigers' standout performances came from the distance runners, who led Princeton to a sweep of the cross-country championships in October. At the end of the first day of competition, the Tigers were in fourth place with 30 points while Cornell led with 37.
The Tigers earned 24 of their points in the last event of the day, when sophomore Jolee VanLeuven, junior Caitlin McTague and senior Mia Swenson finished 1-2-3 in the 10,000 m. Earlier on Saturday, sophomore Jess Kloss cleared 12 feet, 5.5 inches in the pole vault for a personal best, placing third and earning six points.
The men's team was hoping for similar results in the 10,000 m, but disappointing finishes in that event left the team in second place overall after the first day.
In the field events Saturday, sophomore Alex Pessala earned a title for the second straight year in the hammer throw, and sophomore Duane Hynes finished second in the long jump. Freshman Eric Plummer placed second in the shot put with a toss of 54 feet, 5.5 inches, and senior Andrew Park cleared 16' 6.75" for second place in the pole vault. The men finished the day with 48 points, trailing Cornell by seven.
The women's distance runners continued to shine Sunday, as competition began with four Tigers scoring in the 5,000 m. Senior Catha Mullen, freshman Christy Johnson, VanLeuven and McTague placed second, third, fourth and sixth in the race, respectively.
Mullen followed her performance with a victory in the 3,000 m, leaning past Yale's Lindsay Donaldson at the finish line to claim first place by a margin of .11 seconds. Senior Caroline Mullen and freshman Reilly Kiernan finished third and sixth, giving the Tigers three scorers in the event.
Freshman Liz Costello won the 1,500 m with Caroline Mullen right behind her in second place. After posting the leading qualifying time Saturday, sophomore Agatha Offorjebe won the 400 m with a time of 55.29 seconds. Offorjebe also earned points for the Tigers with a fifth-place finish in the 200 m.
At the end of the competition, Princeton had amassed 122.5 points. Cornell scored 197 points for the top spot, while Brown placed third with 97 points.
The men's races also saw several Tigers step up to the line in multiple events. Junior David Nightingale finished fourth in the 1,500 m and second in the 5,000 m, and sophomore Shafiq Kashmiri finished third in the 100 m and 200 m dashes after helping the 4x100 relay team to a third-place finish earlier in the day.
Senior Richard Stewart placed second in the 400 meters before joining the 4x400 relay team for a fourth-place finish. Sophomore Ian Thomson also participated in the 4x400 team after finishing sixth in the 400 m hurdles, just behind freshman Tom Zozokos' fourth-place finish.
In the field, junior Nathan Crumpton followed a fourth-place finish in the long jump Saturday with a third-place finish in Sunday's triple jump.
Ultimately, these standout performances on Sunday were not enough to catch up with Cornell. Princeton ended the meet with 133 points, trailing Cornell by 47.
The Tigers will host another important meet this coming weekend, as the annual Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) meet will bring some of the best teams in Division I to Princeton.
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