The Penn Relays began Thursday with a host of running and field events. The Tigers kicked things off with a pair of eighth-place finishes in the collegiate and championship pole vault divisions. Freshman Lydia Arias jumped 3.50 meters in the collegiate division while senior Jessica Kloss vaulted 3.85 meters in the championship division. Princeton took home its first medal when sophomore Emma Ruggiero took second place in the college hammer throw with a toss of 51.76 meters. In the Eastern shot put division, sophomore Thanithia Billings took seventh place with a throw of 13.38 meters. Rounding out the field events for the Tigers, senior Emma Giunipero and junior Aundeah Kearney took 15th and 25th in the college discus and Eastern long jump, respectively.
On the track, Costello ran the 3,000m in nine minutes, 36.16 seconds to take third place. Banfinch ran the 5,000m in 16:23.24, which was also good for bronze. Junior Reilly Kiernan took seventh in the 5,000m with a time of 16:31.54, and sophomore Ashley Higginson took 14th, crossing the finish line in 16:41.05. Kiernan is also an associate editor for news for The Daily Princetonian.
The 4x400m team took fifth in the Heptagonal division, posting a time of 3:53.77. The Cornell took first with a time of 3:46.88.
The men’s team also had a good showing in the first day of the Relays, as senior Bryan Sharkey took seventh in the Olympic Development steeplechase with a time of 9:19.29.
The second day of the Relays began with sophomore Bianca Williams taking 17th in the Eastern triple jump, reaching 11.34 meters. In the Championship of America shuttle hurdle relay — a rare event in collegiate track in which each of four hurdlers runs in the opposite direction of the preceding runner — sophomores Bianca Mathabane, Lauren Barber, KC Wade and freshman Melissa Tassone took ninth. Wade is a former staff writer for the ‘Prince.’
On the men’s side, junior Chad Faulkner took second place in the Eastern pole vault, clearing 5.00 meters. Also in the Eastern division, junior Ian Fox took seventh in the high jump, clearing 2.04 meters, and sophomore Dion Lehman took 12th place in the long jump, reaching 6.79 meters.
Sophomore George Abyad beat his personal best in the Eastern shot put with a 16.53 meter throw, good for fifth place. Also competing in the Eastern shot put, freshman Patrick Park took 15th place with a throw of 15.24 meters, and senior Tim Lanni was 20th with a throw of 14.44 meters. In the college shot put, junior Eric Plummer took fifth with a throw of 16.38 meters.
Abyad took fourth in the college discus with a 50.93-meter throw. Junior Joel Karacozoff also competed in the college discus, and recorded a 46.05 meter throw.
On the track, the Tigers took fifth in the 4x400m heptagonal race, clocking in at 3:17.50. Cornell, who will be the team to beat in two weeks at the Heptagonal Championships, won the event in 3:14.65.
The final day of the Penn Relays saw only one event for the Princeton women’s track team. In the Championship of America 4x800m, the combination of sophomore Brooke Russell, senior Alexe Smith, Banfich and sophomore Libby Bliss finished in eighth place with a time of 9:06.00. The Tennessee Lady Volunteers won the event, setting a U.S. record with a time of 8:17.91.
The men’s top performance of the day came from Pessala, who took fourth in the championship hammer throw with a toss of 62.12 meters. Sophomore Craig Pearce threw for 54.67 meters, finishing 11th.
Freshman David Slovenski cleared 4.90 meters in the championship pole vault, which was also good for an 11th place finish.
Princeton’s weekend at Franklin Field ended with the 4x800m team’s 7:36.52, which was good for 12th place.
Philadelphia wasn’t the only place the Tigers were competing; the women’s team also traveled to Ewing, N.J., to compete in The College of New Jersey Invitational. Billings threw a season-best 44.16 meters to win the hammer throw. Freshman Alyssa Pehmoeller took fourth in the event with a 42.79-meter throw.
In the high jump, Wade took third on a jump of 1.66 meters.
Freshman Michelle Yousefian finished fifth in the 800m run with a time of 2:20.65. Barber took fifth in the 100m hurdles, crossing the finish line in 14.85 seconds, while Mathabane came in at 15.09 seconds to take seventh. In the 400m hurdles, sophomore Katherine Sirico took seventh with a time of 1:08.02.
Princeton’s final competitors at the TCNJ Invitational were freshmen Danielle Glaeser and Jessica Johnson, who both earned top-10 finishes in the 200m and 400m, respectively.
The Tigers’ final tune up before Heps is at the Princeton Elite Meet next weekend.
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