“This was a tune-up meet for the championships,” men’s track and field assistant coach Steve Dolan said. “There was a lot of good competition.”
On Friday at the Princeton Elite Meet, sophomore Liz Costello came in first in the women’s 1,500-meter run, with a blistering time of four minutes, 30.06 seconds. Costello beat the next-closest competitor, Erin Matyus of Maryland, by a staggering 5.22 seconds. Also in the women’s 1,500m, senior Heather Iatauro and freshmen Liz Deir and Brooke Russell came in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the men’s competition, the 800m was hotly contested, with Darryll Oliver of Penn taking first place in 1:51.84. But the Tigers were not too far behind, as sophomore Jeff Carbonella came in fourth in 1:52.94. Senior Kurt Kuehne and junior Mike Kowal came in fifth and sixth in the 800.
But Princeton would do better, as senior Rob Grote, racing in one of his final meets as a Tiger, came in second in the men’s 1,500m with a time of 3:52.07. In fifth place was sophomore Ben White. The men’s 5,000m was also hotly contested, with sophomore Ben Sitler coming in third with a time of 14:35.70 and freshman Zack Predmore following that up with a 14:36.14, good for fourth place.
In the steeplechase, junior Brian Sharkey finished a close third with a time of 9:15.95. Princeton also had an impressive showing in the shot put. Sophomore Eric Plummer made an 18.03-meter throw to take second place, and freshman George Abyad followed that up with a 16.47-meter throw to take fourth. Junior Tim Lanni took fifth with a throw of 16.06 meters.
“It wasn’t the best weather, so we’re proud of the [team],” Dolan said.
The Tigers dominated the second day of the Elite Meet. In the women’s 100m dash, junior Karen Okigbo came in second in 12.89 seconds and also took fourth in the 200m dash with a time of 26.48 seconds. But the Tigers owned the 400m, taking first and third. Junior Agatha Offorjebe took first with a time of 56.71 seconds, and senior Leanne Bellar followed just over a second later, taking third.
In the 600m, freshman Libby Bliss ran a 1:35.24 for first place in a race against only her teammates. Senior Katheryn Dennison took second place in the 800m with a time of 2:18.88. Only two competitors took the field in the 1500m. Junior Katie Thaeder came in first in 4:55.57, and senior Avigail Kifer followed at 4:58.11.
Princeton took second place in both the 100 and 400m hurdles, with freshmen Lauren Barber and Katherine Sirico leading the Tigers. The pair’s times of 14.75 and 1:05.26 bested all of their classmates, but the two freshmen could not conquer unaffiliated runner Maddy Outman, who won both hurdle events.
Princeton dominated in the field events as well. Sophomore Liz Stevens placed first in the high jump, junior Jessica Kloss took first in the pole vault, and junior Emma Giunipero placed first in the discus. Princeton took second in both the hammer throw and the triple jump, keyed by efforts from freshmen Emma Ruggiero and Bianca Williams. The Tigers also took third in the long jump, with freshman Tiffany Liu taking bronze with a jump of 5.25m. Sophomore Aundeah Kearney and freshman KC Wade, who is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian, came close to Liu, each jumping 5.24 meters.
The men also performed well on Saturday. In the 100m dash, junior Shafiq Kashmiri placed the best of the Tigers who entered, ending up in fourth with a time of 10.93 seconds. In the 200m dash, junior Matt Brock took third with a time of 21.69. Freshman Mike Eddy placed in fourth in the 400m dash as well. In the hurdles, sophomore Tom Zozokos took first place in the 400m race with a time of 54.59.
Princeton performed admirably in the field events as well, coming in first place in the high jump and the triple jump with great performances from sophomore Justin Frick. They also finished second in the discus, the hammer and the pole vault, keyed by Abyad, junior Alex Pessala and senior Will Byrd, respectively.
The Tigers now look forward to Heps, where they will face Cornell and the rest of the Ivy League.
“It’s a challenge … [Cornell is] well-balanced,” Dolan said. “We’re the two schools that can cover most events.”
Heps will likely once again be a battle between the Big Red and the Tigers. The Cornell men defeated Princeton at indoor Heps, while the women edged Cornell on the strength of Liu’s long jump.
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