Track & Field: Callahan bests 4-minute mark in blazing mile

“Having a fast finish is something that I work on a lot in practice,” Callahan said. “When I came through the bell lap and saw the clock, I just told myself that if I could get up on my toes and have a good finish, then it could be a big race.”

Though the race started out slower than expected, with the runners pacing through the half-mile in 2:01, Callahan did not let himself lose focus and maintained his spot in second behind the race’s leader.

“Something that I’ve always thought, and that coach has always said, is that it’s all about racing,” he said. “As long as I was in the right position and in contact, then hopefully when the time came I’d be able to make a push and get the time.”

Callahan’s time is ranked eighth in the nation so far this year and just missed the Princeton record of 3:58.70, held by Bill Burke ‘91. Callahan, who has been on a streak the past few weeks, also set a program record of 2:20.78 in the 1000m on Jan. 28.

While Callahan’s barrier-breaking performance was the highlight of the weekend for the Tigers, both the men and women competed well across the board, with both teams finishing in third place overall.

“The team is starting to shape up very well,” head men’s coach Fred Samara said. “We’re getting some injured guys back, and we’re starting to put our full team together as we build towards the league championship.”

Coming in right behind Callahan in the mile were seniors Joe Stilin in third, Donn Cabral in fifth and Trevor Van Ackeren in eighth. Stilin, who set a stellar Princeton record of 7:56 in the 3000m two weekends ago, stuck with Callahan until the last lap, when he faded slightly to finish just above four minutes in 4:02.10.

Three Tigers again stacked the top five of the 3k race, as senior Thomas Dialynas won in 8:19.09, with sophomore Jonathan Vitez close behind in third and freshman Eddie Owens finishing fifth. Meanwhile, junior Russell Dinkins was the runner-up in the 800m with a fast time of 1:49.92, and freshman Bradley Paternostro placed seventh in 1:51.84.

Leading Princeton in the sprints, sophomore Tom Hopkins set a new personal indoor best in the 400m, lapping the track twice in 47.92 seconds to take fourth overall.

In the field, senior co-captain Dave Slovenski continued to dominate the competition, winning the pole vault for the fourth time this season. Slovenski cleared 5.15 meters, becoming the only vaulter of the day to jump over five meters. Sophomore Damon McLean also picked up points for the Tigers when he placed second in the triple jump and seventh in the long jump.

“Damon McLean jumped for the first time since he broke his foot at outdoor Heps — that was very big for us,” Samara said.

The women continued to develop, as many of the Tigers tried out new events for this season. Running the 400m for the first time, freshman Cecilia Barowski picked up four points for Princeton, placing fifth in 56.06 seconds. Barowski came back later in the day with classmates Jackie Nicholas, Emily De La Bruyere and Andrea Keklak to win the distance medley relay in 11:48.05, edging out home team Penn State by three seconds.

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Like Barowski, Keklak also doubled up on Saturday, racing the 600m for the first time in her collegiate career. Keklak finished the event in 1:34.11 to place third.

Princeton’s upperclassmen matched the strong efforts of the novices, as junior Greta Feldman placed second in the mile in 4:52.33, while junior Alexis Mikaelian placed fourth in the 800m at 2:11.73. Sophomores Theresa Devine and Clare Gallagher also raced well; Devine took second in the 5k and Gallagher grabbed third in the 3k.

Continuing to showcase Princeton’s pole-vaulting strength, junior Tory Worthen cleared 3.80 meters to place fourth. Sophomore Theresa Kennedy also competed well in the field, jumping 1.70 meters for sixth place in the high jump.

Done with the stress of finals, both the women’s and men’s track teams are starting to get ready for the important championship races as February begins. Only three weeks away, the Ivy League Championships are fast approaching. Taking on Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., will be a challenge, but the Tigers are eager to see what they can do.

“Early in the season, we do a lot of strength stuff, and it’s not until later that we’ll hit on some other aspects,” Callahan said. “We’re still building. That’s exciting.”

Both track teams have a few more races to tune-up before Heps. Next Saturday’s Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet will serve as a good opportunity for the Tigers to work on bringing everything together at the right time.

“For us to do well as a team, we really need everyone to be firing on all cylinders,” Samara said. “That’s what’s important — we need depth. We have a lot of exceptional guys, but we need everyone to do well. That’s how you win.”