Track & Field: Men take 7 of 18 events in home quad meet

As the track and field season grinds on, Princeton’s athletes seem to have hit their groove. The men’s team won seven of 10 events to lead the field when it hosted Penn, Villanova and Rutgers on Saturday. The runners were particularly dominant, winning the 400m, the 800m and the 4x400m relay.

Freshmen Peter Callahan and Nathan Mathabane finished first and third, respectively, in the 800m, with times of one minute, 51.80 seconds and 1:53.79. Mathabane closed the race strongly, successfully holding off two of Villanova’s runners who were on his heels until the moment he crossed the finish line. In the 400m, freshman Russell Dinkins set a new personal best of 47.58 seconds on his way to first place, and sophomore Austin Hollimon wasn’t far behind with a time of 47.73 seconds. The two were also part of the team’s 4x400m relay team that won a good six seconds ahead of second-place Penn.

The high jump and pole vault were the other events where the Tigers took top honors. Senior Ian Fox was at his best in the high jump, clearing 1.94 meters for a comfortable victory. Meanwhile, brothers Derek and Duane Hynes posted strong performances in their events. Sophomore Derek claimed the crown in the pole vault after an effort of 4.88 meters, while senior Duane captured third in the long jump with his distance of 7.05 meters.

The women’s team, on the other hand, turned Saturday’s meet into a two-team show but was unable to maintain an early lead, finishing the meet with 83 points, just six shy of first-place Penn. Yale was a distant third, with 25 points on the afternoon.

Princeton’s domination of the first three events was in large part due to junior Thanithia Billings’s unbelievable performance. After taking second in the hammer throw behind junior Emma Ruggiero, who threw for a personal-best 57.51 meters, Billings returned with a vengeance in the shot put and discus throw events.

Billings threw for 14.07 meters in the shot put and then watched as her competition failed to hit 13. She then went on to conquer discus as well: Her distance of 42.31 meters was almost four meters farther than the next-best effort.

Princeton struggled to keep up with Penn in the jump events. Junior KC Wade and freshman Megan Skalbeck finished second and third, respectively, in the high jump, while juniors Tiffany Liu and Bianca Williams finished third in the long jump and triple jump with distances of 5.40 meters and 11.47 meters, respectively.Despite multiple strong showings, though, none of the Tigers could quite make it to the top in these crucial events. Sophomore Eileen Moran helped the Tigers pull back into it with victories in the 100m and 200m with times of 11.85 seconds and 24.47 seconds.

But even Moran’s victories were not enough, as strong performances by Penn’s athletes in the middle- and long-distance runs were too much for the Tigers to overcome.