Track & Field: Princeton sees spring success

Van Ackeren completed the steeplechase with a winning time of 8 minutes, 49.95 seconds at the Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton on Saturday, as both the men’s and women’s teams continued their spring season.

Seventeen schools competed at the two-day invitational, which began with Friday’s field and distance events.

The women’s team claimed five events, as junior Emma Ruggiero kicked off the victories on Friday by throwing a new school hammer record of 56.22 meters.

Junior Thanithia Billings continued the field events winning streak by taking the shot put with a 14.89-meter throw.

The underclassmen didn’t disappoint either. Freshman Lauren Tauscher won her first meet in pole vault by clearing 3.45 meters in a tie-breaking jump-off against South Connecticut State’s Teresa Parker.

Freshman Mel Newbery also won the 5,000m race on Friday night with an NCAA regional qualifying time of 16:35.23. Newbery is also a sports writer for The Daily Princetonian.

The coaching staff was enthused by the teams’ performances. “We needed to see how we would do,” women’s assistant coach Thomas Harrington said. “This is our official outdoor open-up meet to see how the kids can respond. The weather was fantastic. This was the best we’ve had the six years I’ve been here. It’s usually cold, rainy, windy, snowy, and on some years all happening at the same meet.”

In the 4x100m relay, freshmen Abidemi Adenikinju and Erin Guty and sophomores Danielle Glaeser and Eileen Moran edged Rutgers out by 0.08 seconds to claim first place with a final time of 46.86 seconds.

“[In the] 4x100, we work on mostly handoffs: The baton has to make it around,” Harrington explained of the team’s new approach. “This year we changed the style of handoffs to a nonverbal handoff. So the girls know the moment the hand goes back as opposed to waiting for someone to say ‘hand’ or ‘stick.’ ”

Moran once again pushed past Rutgers by 0.08 seconds to win the 100m dash in 12.03 seconds.

“She’s a great finisher,” Harrington said. “Right now she’s running way ahead of schedule. She was a quarter-miler primarily in high school, so moving her down to the 100 or 200 is really different.”

On the men’s side, freshman Sebastian Steffen and sophomores Kashif Smith, Ricky Kearney and Ivan Charbonneau won the 4x100m relay in 41.69 seconds, beating Yale by 0.19 seconds.

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After dealing with an ankle injury all winter, Steffen competed in the 100m and 200m dashes in addition to the relay.

“Our team has guys that are stepping up in big ways,” junior co-captain Mike Eddy said. “Additionally, we have some key guys returning from injuries right now, and senior Brian Li-A-Ping is finally returning to the 400m. Li-A-Ping will be a key part of our 400m crew, and let’s not forget that [sophomore sprinter] Austin Hollimon will soon be returning to the track as well.”

Eddy won the 400m dash in 47.20 seconds, beating out the second-place finisher by 0.34 seconds.

“As a junior, tight races don’t faze me as much as they used to,” Eddy explained. “Part of maturing as a track athlete is realizing that a race is really just you against the clock, and that good competition just helps you reach your full potential. So when the race is tight for the last 100 meters, I’m thinking not about winning but about getting the best time possible.”

Freshman Russell Dinkins closed off the day by winning the 800m with a time of 1:51.09.