After a stellar campaign that saw records fall and standards rise, the track and field teams look to conclude their season in optimum form at Heptagonals in Princeton, NJ. tomorrow and Sunday.
The women’s squad placed fourth at the indoor get together and is looking to continue the success outdoors.
The Red is expected to finish somewhere in the top four, an elite group rounded out by Brown, Yale and Harvard.
“It should be a real dogfight,” head coach Lou Duessing observed.
Cornell enters the get-together having enjoyed victory in all its outdoor meets this season.
“Our performances outdoors are almost better across the board than indoors,” Duessing noted.
One of the highlights of the campaign was the Red’s dismantling of Ivy foe Pennsylvania on East Hill, a performance that proceeded what Duessing calls the best team effort he has seen at the Penn Relays in his eleven year tenure.
“I’ve never been more excited about a Heps than now,” an exuberant Duessing proclaimed.
The squad is expected to perform particularly well in the middle distance races, the relays, throws and long sprints.
“We are going to be competitive in almost every single event,” affirmed the head coach.
Cornell’s men’s team enters the venerable engagement with similar fanfare.
“With a good performance, we have a chance of finishing third,” head coach Nathan Taylor remarked.
For a team that has failed to finish to fail above 5th in nearly 15 years, this is a major accomplishment.
As in years past, studs Princeton and Pennsylvania are heavy favorites. For the last twelve years the title has gone to one of the two schools.
“This is a very competitive field,” Taylor, the former headman at Pennsylvania offered, adding that the difference between Princeton, Pennsylvania and Cornell is minuscule.
Taylor lauded several individual efforts. Sophomore Brett Coffing garnered praise for his runner up showing in the discus at the indoor Heps while junior Jeremy Blanchet was mentioned for his runner up performance in the hammer. Sophomore Scott Benowicz, who made his presence felt on the soccer field in the fall, enters the outdoor Heps third all time at Cornell in the javelin.
“[Scott’s] improved a lot this year,” Taylor said.
Senior Pete Ippel holds the school record in the high jump and is one of the favorites in the event. Ippel’s teammate in the long jump, senior Nick Senter, is also expected to compete for a first place finish.
The Red is expected to be solid in the pole vault where junior Scott Lundy will compete with freshman phenom Travis Offner. Offner holds the all time Cornell record in the event.
Senior Matt Murman and rookie Rahim Wooley were also lauded by Taylor.
Archived article by