With their distance squads leading the way, the men’s and women’s track & field teams posted strong performances at a pair of postseason meets in Boston over the weekend. The men tied for 10th at the IC4As, while the women tied for 12th at the ECACs.
Both events featured about 80 participating schools.
The men’s distance medley squad — made up of seniors Colin Moore, Matt Murnan, and Chris Ondrak, as well as junior Geoff Van Fleet — equaled a meet record of 9:42.58 and slashed nine seconds off the school record. However, Georgetown broke the meet record, coming in at 9:40.00, to take first ahead of the Red. Although the team’s time was good enough for a provisional NCAA qualifying mark, the Red will not be able to attend nationals because the 10 allotted berths have already been filled up.
“It was a great performance,” men’s head coach Nathan Taylor noted about the DM. “We probably need to run another four seconds faster to [qualify for nationals].”
Cornell also displayed its prowess in the pole vault, with junior Scott Lundy and freshman Travis Offner taking second and eighth, respectively.
“Scott Lundy did a great job on the pole vault,” Taylor said.
In the shot put, sophomore Brett Coffing finished eighth, and in the long jump, freshman Tyler Kauner took seventh.
Penn State won the men’s competition with 73 points. The Red scored 22 points, to land even with Manhattan at 10th place.
“I think it’s the best performance at IC4As in 20 years so we’re all very encouraged by that,” Taylor said.
On the women’s side, the distance events were once again key to Cornell’s finish. Senior tri-captain Meredith Freimer earned third in the 1000 meter run, crossing the line in 2:54.20. Junior Lena Mathews took seventh in the event.
Kim Chatman, also a senior tri-captain, paced the Red in the mile, taking fifth in 4:51.50.
In the relays, Cornell claimed fifth in the 4×800 and seventh in the distance medley.
Except for the members of the men’s DM, who may yet be competing at nationals, the curtain fell on the indoor season for the Red. The men and women now turn their attention to the outdoor campaign, which starts with the Long Beach Classic on March 17.
Archived article by Shiva Nagaraj