Track & Field: Maag sets school record in grueling 5,000m race

On the men’s side, junior Ian Fox, sophomore Mike Eddy and freshman Austin Hollimon earned spots at Regionals. Fox had a season best in the high jump, clearing 2.10 meters to take first place. Eddy placed first in the 400m dash, finishing in 46.72 seconds. Hollimon received fifth-place honors with a time of 47.01 seconds. Hollimon later placed second in the 200m dash at 21.49 seconds, but he missed qualifying for Regionals in that event by three-tenths of a second.

Though he didn’t qualify for Regionals, junior Tim Branigan won the 1,500m run in three minutes, 55.62 seconds. Freshman Nick Thomas placed second at 3:55.70, and senior Collin Plummer took third at 3:55.79. In the 200m dash, freshman Ricky Kearney, junior Andrew Usoro and freshman Luinis Tejada all posted their best times of the season, with Kearney running a personal best at 22.11 seconds.

On the field, senior Alex Pessala won the hammer throw at 66.85 meters, with sophomore Craig Pearce throwing his best hammer of the season and receiving fourth place with a measure of 58.50 meters. In the pole vault, junior Chad Faulkner cleared 4.75 meters to place third.

“It seems that every week we have a few more standout performances,” Fox said. “It will be awesome to see everyone on top of their game in a few weeks at [Heptagonal Championships].”

The women had great success as well, with junior Reilly Kiernan and senior Jessica Kloss qualifying for Regionals. Kiernan qualified in the steeplechase, posting a time of 10:38.75. Sophomore Ashley Higginson previously qualified in the event. Kloss cleared 3.85 meters in the pole vault, which was good enough to earn her best vault of the season and a spot at Regionals. Kiernan is also an associate editor for news for The Daily Princetonian.

On the field, sophomore Emma Ruggiero placed first in the hammer throw and earned a personal best with a throw of 52.91 meters. Sophomore Bianca Williams set a personal best in the triple jump at 11.86 meters and finished in sixth place. In the 100m dash, freshman Eileen Moran placed fourth and had a season-best time at 12.22 seconds. She also competed in the 200m dash with a time of 25.07 seconds. Senior Agatha Offorjebe placed third in the event with a time of 24.39 seconds. Sophomore Brooke Russell won the 800m run with a time of 2:13.15, while senior Alexe Smith came in second with a time of 2:13.80. The 4x100m relay team won with a time of 47.70 seconds.

On the other side of the country last Friday, senior Michael Maag set a Princeton record in the 5,000m run at the Mt. Sac Relay in Walnut, Calif. With a time of 13:41.17, he also qualified for Regionals, surpassing the qualifying standard of 14:12.00. Freshmen Brian Leung and Donn Cabral competed in the meet as well, with both earning personal bests and finishing in 14:18.33 and 14:25.99, respectively.

Next weekend, Princeton heads to Franklin Field in Philadelphia to compete in the Penn Relays.

“I think the biggest thing to work on before the Penn Relays is being consistent,” Fox said. “Now that there’s no more pressure to make the regional mark, I think I can be more relaxed, which will hopefully translate into some higher jumps.”