Runners rout relays

As exams came to a close, the men’s and women’s track teams were slightly worried about the tough Intersession they had ahead of them. Over the break, however, the track teams made strides forward with strong showings on the road while blowing out the competition at home.

Last Saturday, both teams traveled to Penn State for the Sykes-Sabock Challenge and again had successful outings, though the Tigers recorded disappointing efforts in the field events.

“We struggled in the field events because there was a faster runway and more people than we were used to,” junior Jessica Kloss said. “In pole vault we were going for three hours instead of our normal 45 minutes.”

Running events, however, were dominated by Princeton, with the men placing first in three events.
Freshman Meko McCray ran the fastest time in the Ivy League this year in the 60-meter dash — a blistering 6.87 seconds in the preliminaries and 6.91 in the finals — to win the event.

“I felt I was running with good form and pulling away, but other than that, the race seemed pretty normal,” McCray said. “After I crossed the finish line I turned around to look at my time and thought they made a mistake.”

In the high jump, sophomore Justin Frick beat his personal best by two inches, successfully clearing 7 feet, 2.5 inches en route to a victory and the only athlete to clear the seven-feet mark. Senior Dave Nightingale ran a dominating performance in the mile, finishing in four minutes, 5.98 seconds.
The track team includes many two-sport athletes who are finishing the transition from their fall sports to track and the reqiusite changes in conditioning.

“The transition wasn’t that difficult,” noted McCray, who also plays defensive back for the football team. “It took about a month for me to get into track shape and build up endurance. But I’ve been doing this since eighth grade, so it felt pretty natural.”

The women were also impressive. The Tiger distance medley relay team of sophomore Christy Johnson, junior Melissa Swigert, Bergold and sophomore Liz Costello completed the 2.5-mile race in 11:23.68, a provisional NCAA qualifying time. Johnson also took first in the 3,000-meter run, finishing in 9:35.01. She was followed closely by freshman Ashley Higginson, who took second. Freshman Libby Bliss won the 600m in 1:34.41.

At the beginning of the break the women’s team turned in an stronger performance all around, finishing second in the UAlbany Great Dane Invitational in New York City on Jan. 25, with 89 points, only five behind victorious Penn.

Higginson and junior Megan Brandeland went one-two in the one-mile run, while senior Liz Bergold won the 800-meter run. The distance medley relay team cruised past its opponents, and meet MVP Costello and senior Heather Iatauro took the top two spots in the 1,000m.

“The back-to-back competition after exams was definitely taxing, but it didn’t prevent us from recording some noteworthy performances,” Costello said.

The next day the men’s and women’s teams hosted the Princeton Relays in Jadwin Gymnasium and what ensued was a rout of the competition by both Tiger squads.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The freshman men were first to steal the show. Freshman Dion Lehman blew away the field in the long jump, winning with a 22’6.2” jump. Fellow freshman Garner McCloud took the triple jump, beating the second-place finisher by almost two feet.

Other highlights included the Tigers’ high jump duo of sophomores Justin Frick and Ian Fox, who for the second meet in a row took the top two spots in the event, tying at 6’10.25”. Sophomore Andrew Usoro won the 60-meter dash and was the only runner to break seven seconds. In the mile run, Princeton swept the top three spots, with sophomore Ben Sitler leading the way in 4:12.61.

Junior Duane Hynes won the heptathlon with a total of 5,572 points.

The women, however, were not to be outdone. Led by freshman Thanithia Billings’ 53’5” throw, the tigers swept the top five spots in the weight throw. Freshman Isabell von Loga won the shot put with a throw of 48’25”, while Kloss, sophomore sprinter Maria Fasolino, junior sprinter Agatha Offorjebe and Bergold all recorded victories for Princeton.

The Tigers also took the top four spots in the 800m run, led by Costello’s 2:12.99. The women took the top three spots in the 1,000m, with sophomore Alexa Glencer winning in 3:03.41.

With several strong performances, the men earned a few more victories to keep pace with the women. Finishing in 2:26.92, junior Michael Maag led the Tigers to a sweep of the top five spots in the 1,000m. The men also claimed victory in the 4x400m relay by more than three seconds but were slightly outdone by the women’s 10-second win in the same event.

Between the Great Dane Invitational and the Princeton Relays, the women set new school records in the weight throw, the 400m and the 1000m.

“As a team we just need to stay motivated, positive and cohesive for the rest of the season so that we can go into [Heptagonals] with our best shot at taking the team title,” Costello said.

For the past six years, the Cornell women have had a stranglehold on the Heptagonal Championships. At Penn State, the Tigers finished just one point behind the Big Red.

The men and women will travel to the Armory Track and Field Center in New York City next weekend for the New Balance Games.