It’s been a great two weeks for the men’s and women’s track teams.
After both squads took first place at last week’s Indoor Heptagonal Championships, the Red continued its impressive run through the indoor season with two strong performances at the ECAC / IC4a Championships in Boston, Mass. The men took second place at the meet, while the women finished fourth.
“I don’t think that a [men’s] team from the Ivy League has done as well in this meet in 35 years, so I was pleased,” said men’s head coach Nathan Taylor.
Nearly 100 schools – including about 30 Division-I competitors – were represented at the meet.
Penn State took the title in the men’s competition with 71 team points, while Georgetown was victorious on the women’s side with 65 points. The Cornell men earned 55 team points, while the women recorded 38.
Junior Evan Whitehall and sophomore Muhammad Halim led the way for Cornell, as each won individual titles at the meet.
Whitehall cleared a height of 16-8 3/4 in the pole vault – equal to his winning mark at Heps last week. Halim managed a 51-7 mark in the triple jump to win his event.
“[Whitehall] is starting to get consistent at the upper 16s, which is coming as a relatively easy vault for him,” Taylor said. “Hopefully he’ll have a chance at making 17-plus outdoors.”
In addition to Halim’s winning effort, sophomore Rayon Taylor took third place in the triple jump, with a 50-4 mark.
The men’s team also witnessed an excellent performance from the 4×800 relay team, which took first place with a 7:27.24 time. The mark was good enough for second all-time at Cornell, and it is the fastest time in the country this season. Senior Gordon Hall, sophomores Jimmy Wyner and Mike Smayda, along with freshman Andy Miller represented Cornell in the finals of the 4×800.
Among many good individual showings, junior David Pell took second in the high jump with mark of 6-10 1/4. Middle-distance runner James Connolly took fifth place in the 800-meter run, setting a school-record with a 1:51.26 time.
“It was a tremendous effort on his part,” Taylor said of Connolly.
On the women’s side, junior Morgan Uceny took first place in the 800 meters with a time of 2:06:07. However, she ran an even-better 2:04.42 in the preliminary round of the meet, setting both a school and meet record. Her performance also earned her a trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., which will take place this Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, junior Sarah Wilfred took second place in the high jump with a 5-10 mark. Junior Nyam Kagwima was third in the mile with a time of 4:51.99, while freshman Aeriel Emig took ninth. The Red also earned points in the throwing events, as senior Sheeba Ibidunni earned All-East honors and fifth-place result with a distance of 58-2 in the weight throw.
The 4×400 relay team also enjoyed a solid meet, taking fourth place with a final run of 3:44.20. That time was Cornell’s best of the season in the 4×400, as senior Linda Trotter, junior Cameron Washington, junior Christina Cossell, and freshman Tameka Royal ran in both the qualifying and final runs.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer