Just two weeks after breaking the Ivy League hammer throw record for the second time, freshman Julia Ratcliffe refused to be stopped at the Larry Ellis Invitational at home on Friday night. Opening up the evening with a modest 64.64-meter throw, Ratcliffe started to heat things up with a long foul off to the left side. Flying through her rotations on the third attempt, Ratcliffe let loose a huge throw — that landed fair. At 68.80 meters, the mark not only blew away her old Ivy League record of 66.69m but also bested her own New Zealand national record by over a meter and a half.
“When I was throwing, it just felt so easy,” Ratcliffe said. “I try not to think about what distance I want to throw. If you get really amped up or angry, it all just falls apart. Friday, I just got into my rhythm and tried to keep everything under control.”
Since Ratcliffe started competing outdoors in the hammer after the indoor season, she has kept on improving by leaps and bounds. With each week in her training, Ratcliffe has become stronger, faster and more in control of her technique. Not only superb in the Ivy League record books, Ratcliffe’s throw on Friday also put her close to the top 10 all-time list in the NCAA. While her progression has been impressive, she and her coaches are not too surprised.
“In practice, she was throwing pretty far. In practice, you look for consistency in distance, and she had quite a few 66-meter throws,” assistant women’s track and field coach Brian Mondschein said. “That indicated that she was probably going to throw far. She can see that she is moving up a level in her throwing.”
Later that evening, the Tigers upheld some of Ratcliffe’s energy on the track. Competing in an elite 800m heat, men’s assistant coach Robby Andrews ran away from the field in the last 100 meters to win in 1:48.18 seconds. Following the fast pace, sophomore Bradley Paternostro set a personal best, finishing in 1:49.26 in fifth place as the top collegian.
In the women’s elite 800m, sophomore Cecilia Barowski was the top Princeton athlete, finishing in eighth at 2:08.37. Close behind her, two other Tigers finished under 2:10, as junior Kacie O’Neil took ninth in 2:08.97, while classmate Kristin Smoot was 11th in 2:09.38.
Next on the track, senior co-captain Greta Feldman lit up the women’s elite 1500m, as she kicked away from a field of professionals in the last 200 meters to win. After ambling through the first half in over 2:30, things started to pick up as Feldman, current professional Ashley Higginson ’10 and Melissa Salerno pushed for home. Holding Higginson off in the final 150 meters, Feldman stopped the clock at 4:21.43.
“The race was a lot of fun. With the 1500, you never quite know what you’re going to get,” Feldman said. “Going through the first lap, I didn’t even think we were going to break 80 seconds. Dealing with all these different scenarios really helps me learn how to react.”
In Feldman’s opinion, opting for the often-tactical East Coast races has helped her more than the steadily paced races geared toward fast times out in California would.
“This is the same thing that happened last year. I know I’m in great shape, but I’ve been using these slower races to learn how to race and compete,” Feldman said. “The times aren’t necessarily indicative of my fitness, but the way I’ve run the races says a lot more.”
On the second day of competition on Saturday, freshman sprinter John Hill got things rolling for the Tigers, as he took third in the 100m in 10.74 seconds. Earlier, he joined classmate Dre Nelson, sophomore Daniel McCord and junior Tom Hopkins in the 4x100m relay, posting a time of 42.01 to finish second.
In the 400m hurdles, senior Austin Hollimon continued to ease back into his event, crossing the line in 52.44 seconds in second place. On the women’s side in the 400 hurdles, senior Joie Hand finished as the top collegian and second overall, crossing the line in 1:01.21.
Busy in the decathlon over both days of the meet, junior Brad Pelisek set a personal best, as he finished third with 6,771 points. Junior Beth McKenna also took third in the heptathlon, as she led the women with 4,468 points.
While their teammates prepared for the Larry Ellis Invitational, across the country in Walnut, Calif., several Princeton distance runners competed in the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational.
Running in the men’s elite 10,000m race on Thursday night, senior Michael Franklin took advantage of the hard pace set by the professionals and top collegians in the field, as he ran a personal best of 29:27.89.
On Friday night, junior Chris Bendtsen posted a fast time in the Olympic Development 5,000m race, breaking 14:00 to stop the clock in 13:57.56 — just missing his personal best by .06. Also racing the 5,000, senior Abby Levene followed up on her 10,000m personal best set two weeks ago at the Sam Howell Invitational with a new top time, running the 5K in 16:21.80.
This week, the Tigers will be returning to Franklin Field for the Penn Relays. Last year, Princeton left no doubt of its dominance, as relays anchored by Donn Cabral ’12 won both the 4xMile and Distance Medley Relay.
Immediately following the Penn Relays, both the women and men will be gearing up for the Ivy League Championships at home at Weaver Stadium, May 4-5.
“I’m excited for Heps. It should be a really good meet,” Ratcliffe said. “Hopefully, we can get some people out there. The support is really great. For me, it’ll be the next major stepping-stone until Nationals, so hopefully I can get a nice performance.”
With the championship season about to begin, the Tigers have to put in that last bit of effort in order to prepare themselves to be ready to go when it counts.
“Peter is very good about keeping the long-term in mind. Team-wise, we’ve had a lot of great performances,” Feldman said. “At the same time, everyone has something they need to keep working on to be competitive in two weeks at Heps. We’re there, but we just need to keep working.”
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