Track & Field: Hollimon sets stadium record at Navy

Despite going nearly a month without a meet, the men’s and women’s track and field teams recorded a series of inspired performances this past weekend at their respective events.

On the men’s side, sophomore Austin Hollimon led the way as the Tigers defeated Navy 98-83 in a dual meet at Wesley Brown Field House in Annapolis, Md.

Hollimon, who set the school 300m indoor record in his first race of the season, was back in the record books for the second time this year, running 47.88 seconds in the 400m to set a stadium record. The previous record, 47.99, was set by Toby Ulm of Georgetown earlier this year. Hollimon’s record-breaking time is currently the second-fastest 400m time in the nation this season.

“Having the number-two time in the country this year is something you never really expect the first time out,” Hollimon said. “The gun goes off, and you go into survival mode; it’s all about you and each step you have to take. I guess survival mode was good enough.”

Hollimon, who tripped coming down the first banked turn, narrowly defeated freshman Russell Dinkins by less than four-tenths of a second.

In the distance events, sophomore Donn Cabral made his first appearance on the track this season, winning the mile in 4:09.10.

Elsewhere in the distance events, junior Kyle Soloff won the 1,000m, running 2:26.69, while sophomore Max Kaulbach finished second in the 3,000m in 8:21.20.

In the sprints, sophomore Ricky Kearney picked up his first victory of the season, running 22.46 to win the 200m.

Sophomore Ivan Charbonneau took the 60m in 7.03, with sophomore Kashif Smith and freshman Jason Reagor close behind. Junior Mike Eddy won the 500m in 1:03.76.

In the field events, sophomore Patrick Park and senior Joel Karacozoff finished one-two in the shot put, with Karacozoff also taking second in the weight throw. Princeton swept the jumps, with senior Justin Frick winning the high jump, junior Dion Lehman the long jump and junior Garner McCloud the triple jump. Sophomore Dave Slovenski won the pole vault, clearing 4.80 meters.

The women faced difficult regional competition at the Metro Coaches Collegiate Invitational in New York but still managed to come away with two first-place finishes, with freshman Melissa Zajdel winning the 500m and freshman Tory Worthen claiming the pole vault title.

Zajdel picked up the first victory of her collegiate career with a time of 1:16.91, despite being placed in the second-fastest heat.

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

“I knew I won my heat, but I didn’t know I had won the whole thing until a few hours later, once the coaches looked at the results,” she said in an e-mail.

Worthen was more decisive in her victory, beating her nearest competitor by more than .3 meters with a vault of 3.97m.

Elsewhere, the 4x400m team finished second in 3:53.15, losing by just .24 seconds to Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Freshmen Mel Newbery and Abby Hewitt went two-three in the 3000m, with times of 10:09.41 and 10:13.77, respectively. Newbery and Hewitt are also staff writers for The Daily Princetonian. In the sprints, sophomore Eileen Moran finished third in the 200m in 25.34, while freshman Abby Adenikinju took third in the 60m, running 7.72. In the throws, junior Emma Ruggiero placed third in the weight throw.

Both teams will return to action on Jan. 23 for the Princeton Relays at Jadwin Gym.