Tigers look to Heps after strong weekend showing

This past weekend was a big one for the Princeton track and field program, with two major meets occurring on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, members of the Princeton men’s and women’s team track and field teams traveled to participate in the Virginia Tech Challenge. Then on Sunday, the University hosted the annual Princeton Invitational at its home Jadwin Gymnasium.

On Saturday, senior pole vaulter Allison Harris set the program record in the pole vault at 4.27m (14’) at the Virginia Tech Challenge. Harris beat her own previous school record of 4.20m from last year’s season. The vault of 4.27m is the ninth highest nationally for the season.

Another record was set on Saturday by senior weight thrower Julia Ratcliffe. She was the first Princeton student in the entire track and field program history to clear 20 meters with a throw of 20.13m (66 feet, 0.5 inches), according to the Princeton athletics website. Ratcliffe now holds the 24th longest throw in the nation for this season. Like Harris, Ratcliffe also owned the previous school record.

Besides school records, the team also achieved a lot of personal records this weekend as well. Freshman Devon Block-Funkhouser won the 500m, setting a personal record of 1:17:46. Junior Ashley Reed also achieved a personal record in the 400m and third place in her event with a time of 58.31, with splits of 27.51 and 30.80.

The team saw this meet as an opportunity to prepare for the season’s main event: the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, which will take place next weekend at the Armory in New York City. Sophomore middle-distance runner Marie-Fee Breyer commented, “The whole team is very excited for Heps next weekend. We’ve seen a lot of PRs and even school and Ivy league records in the last couple weeks.”

Unique to both the men’s and women’s teams at Princeton this season is their energy and spirit. Going into Heps next weekend, Breyer commented that one of the team’s biggest strengths is that “everyone has a great attitude and the team spirit is amazing this year.”