Track & Field: Princeton finds success in pre-Heptagonals tune-up

The Tigers left the Princeton Invitational at Jadwin Gymnasium with more than enough momentum to stay in top contention at next weekend’s Ivy League Heptagonal Championships. Heps, which both the men’s and women’s teams won last year, is one of the final competitions of the indoor track season. If Saturday’s performances are any indicator, Princeton can hope to repeat that success this year.

The Tigers performed well in the day’s diverse events. Junior vaulters David Slovenski and Derek Hynes took the two top honors in the pole vault. Senior thrower George Abyad and junior thrower Patrick Park went first and third, respectively, in the shot put. Abyad’s throw — 16.92 meters — places it as the fourth-best in Princeton history.

Senior jumper Garner McCloud blew away his competition in the triple jump, finishing a full four feet ahead of his closest competitor. Sophomore sprinter Sebastian Steffen placed second in the 200m, while junior sprinter Nilan Schnure finished third in the 400m. Steffen’s time, 22.91 seconds, was one of only two times under 23 seconds.

Senior thrower Craig Pearce finished third in the weight throw with a throw of 19.50 meters. Pearce’s performance was 11 inches farther than his personal best and over a meter-and-a-half farther than his nearest collegiate competition.

Freshman jumper Tom Hopkins is well-poised going into his first indoor Heps. His 7.02-meter long jump missed first by only 0.22 meters. His classmate, distance runner Michael Williams, represented first-year students well with a close victory in the 800m — despite having never run the race in collegiate competition. Williams’ time, 1 minute, 57.09 seconds, was only 0.01 seconds faster than the race’s runner-up.

Even with their strong Princeton Invitational performance, the Tigers were missing some of their strongest runners. These athletes — including sophomore middle distance runner Peter Callahan, senior distance runner Mark Amirault, junior distance runner Donn Cabral and senior distance runner Kyle Soloff — traveled north to New York City’s The Armory Track & Field Center to compete in a mile competition.

Callahan and Cabral ran personal bests, and all runners narrowed in on the four-minute threshold. Callahan shaved off three seconds in two weeks for a time of 4:01.03, the fastest time in Division I for the weekend. The Armory will be the site of next weekend’s Heptagonals.

The women followed up their Harvard-Yale-Princeton victory last weekend with a day full of strong performances. The Tigers continued their tradition of sweeping the pole vault contests, led by sophomore vaulter Tory Worthen. Worthen’s 3.80-meter vault was her second-best showing of the season. Three Tigers tied for second place: freshman vaulter Samantha Anderson, sophomore vaulter Lauren Tauscher and junior vaulter Lydia Arias. Junior vaulter Bianca Reo tied for fifth with Shippensburg University’s Megan Breski by clearing the 3.50-meter mark.

Senior thrower Emma Ruggiero crushed her competition by a full two feet with an 18.48-meter weight throw. Ruggiero’s performance was 7.25 inches better than her previous best. Classmate thrower Isabel von Loga won her shot put with a throw of 13.83 meters, a personal season best and put her 0.32 meters ahead of University of Delaware’s Alana Pantale, the competition’s runner-up.

The freshmen women proved just as formidable as their classmates on the men’s side. Freshman jumper Theresa Kennedy walked away from the day’s contentious high jump contest tied for first with six other participants. Kennedy and six other runners each cleared the pivotal 1.60-meter mark. On the track, freshman sprinter Carrie Vuong won her 500m by nearly 1.5 seconds, clocking in at 1:17.93. Vuong’s time was a personal best.