Track and field starts off season on a strong note

Men’s track and field had a successful weekend at the Sam Howell Invitational, held over the course of two days at the Tigers’ own Weaver Stadium. Friday, the first day of the meet, saw junior Adam Bragg win the pole vault as six other Tigers broke their personal records. Bragg won after clearing 5.15 meters on his first try, while sophomore Ben Gaylord set a personal record of 5.00 meters, clearing on his first attempt. Then, due to poor weather, the event continued indoors in Jadwin Gymnasium. All three hammer throwers set their own personal records, with sophomore Vic Youn throwing for 57.41m on his third try, with all five of his attempts passing his previous best of 50.07m. Senior Jake Taylor threw 56.19m and freshman Gabe Arcaro threw 56.02m, an impressive feat for his second time throwing on a collegiate level.

Turning to the runners, junior Sam Berger saw success of his own in the 1500, finishing seventh overall and third among collegians, breaking a personal record with 3:55.49, while freshman Jared Lee broke his own personal record in the 800 and had the fastest time of any Tiger, recording 1:55.87.

The second day saw even more events won and personal records broken. Junior Greg Caldwell won the 110 hurdles in 14.52, followed by freshman James Burns, who finished seventh, while sophomore Greg Leeper and junior Jordan Myers went third and fourth, respectively, in the 400 hurdles. Sophomore Brent Alebertson won the 100, finishing in just 10.89, with freshman Michael Seaton and junior Dré Nelson tying for fifth place. Albertson also finished in fifth place in the 200. Freshman Brennan O’Connor won the 400 in 49.79 while breaking his personal record for the second meet in a row and freshman Josh Freeman finished in fourth.

In the relays, Seaton, Albertson, freshman Maxwell Schwegman and junior Jake Scinto won the 4x100 in 42.93, while Leeper, Freeman, sophomore Bryant Switzer and sophomore Ray Mennin won the 4x400 in 3:18.82. Freshman Colin Reilley won the high jump and broke his personal best, clearing 2.00 on his second attempt in his first outdoor completion.

On the long jump, senior Tumi Akinlawon, Leeper and Scinto took the top three spots, respectively, with Akinlawon winning with a jump of 7.12m. The trio of jumpers have been performing exceptionally well this year, particularly in long jump, and finished in the top three spots in the event at indoor Heps.

Princeton performed incredibly well in the shot put as well, with sophomore Christopher Cook and freshman Mitchel Charles taking the top two spots, respectively, and Cook winning with a throw of 16.82m before going on to finish third in the discus. Senior Stephen Soerens was the top Tiger finisher in the javelin throw, coming in fourth in the event.

The women’s track and field team had strong finishes of their own in the meet, winning six individual events and both relays. The first day saw sophomore Lizzie Bird win the steeplechase and become the NCAA leader with a time of 10:08.62, breaking her own previous personal record by more than four seconds and finishing more than ten seconds ahead of the next fastest runner. Junior Julia Ratcliffe, who won NCAAs in the hammer throw last year, won her event, throwing a season-best 64.38m and leaving her ranked third in the nation. Hammer throwers junior Brielle Rowe and freshman Kennedy O’Dell also performed well, breaking personal records. In the 5000, Tigers took the top three finishes among collegians. Junior Kathryn Fluehr finished second overall at 16:46.84, behind an unattached runner, while junior Kathryn Little finished third and senior Erika Fluehr finished fifth. Junior Lindsay Eysenbach finished second in the 10k at 35:15.50, the fastest collegiate time. In the 1500, sophomore Zoe Sims finished seventh, while sophomore Elisa Steele finished ninth in the 800.

The second day saw the Tigers take four individual events and the relays, opening with junior Jasmine Blocker, senior Joanna Anyanwu, junior Sara Ronde and senior Emily Easton winning the 4x100 in 48.67. Anyanwu finished second in both the 100 and 200, shaving one one-hundreth of a second off of each of her PRs. Sophomore Allison Harris and junior Taylor Morgan qualified for the 100 hurdle final, with Harris finishing fourth and Morgan finishing eighth. Morgan’s prelim time also set a PR. Junior Meghan McMullin finished third in the 400 hurdles before senior Kim Mackay and Steele took the top two finishes in the 400, with Mackay winning with a time of 55.83. Freshman Melinda Renuart won the 3K in 9:52.80 in the long only distance event held Saturday afternoon.

In the 4x400, junior Cecilia Barowski, freshman Ashley Forte, Mackay and McMullin took the victory at 3:53.55. Junior Inka Busack won the high jump after clearing 1.70 on the second attempt. Ronde went on to win her second event of the day in the long jump with a jump of 5.58 on her second try, while Morgan finished second and Harris finished fifth. Freshman Kennedy O’Dell set a new personal record in the shot put and finished third, while junior Brielle Rowe finished fifth in the discus. Senior Waskewitz closed out the day with a third place finish in the javelin.

The Tigers will compete next on Saturday, April 11, again in Weaver Stadium.