The men’s and women’s track and field teams returned from the Heps outdoor finals this past weekend with strong finishes. The men’s team placed second to reigning Heps champion Princeton, while the women’s team finished first, coming back to Ithaca with its ninth Heps title in the past 11 years. 

Although the men’s team did not achieve its goal of dethroning Princeton, the team still had a number of strong individual performances. The Red won eight events, had two runner-up finishes and had 41-IC4A qualifying performances. Senior co-captain Nick Huber finished first in the decathlon, in a new meet and school record of 7,632 to produce the 10th best score this season in the NCAA. 

Sophomore Peter Roach took first in the pole vault, setting a new personal best by seven inches, clearing 16-9.5 for the second best in Cornell history. Senior Chase Aaronson claimed his first individual Heps title by finishing first in the long jump with a leap of 24-2.5. Freshman Stephen Mozia also won his first individual Heps title heaving the shot put 61-8.5. Senior co-captain Dan Hagberg added another Heps title to his collection by winning the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.41. 

Sophomore pole vaulter Peter Roach said he felt that the final score did not truly represent the meet’s results.

“We lost by 28 points this time around,” he said. “That doesn’t truly represent how close it actually was.”

The women’s team had a very successful weekend at Heps, bringing home the title with five event wins, four second place finishes and 29 ECAC-qualifying performances. In the 10k, junior Katie Kellner and sophomore Devin McMahon finished first and second, respectively, to give the Red the lead heading into day two. 

Junior Victoria Imbesi placed first in the shot put with a heave of 49-3.75 for a new school record. Senior co-captain Molly Glantz ran a solid 59.08 in the 400 hurdles, capturing her first individual Heps title. In the high jump, junior Ailish Hanly won her first Heps title, clearing 5-9.25 for the second best jump in Cornell history. 

Roach said he was especially excited when he cleared his last height in the pole vault final. 

“It felt pretty good,” he said. “I came into the meet ranked fourth, and I hadn’t cleared what I thought I could in the outdoor season. After I made that height, I was really happy on the way down. You get that hang time in the air, and it felt pretty awesome to know that I actually had a shot to win the competition.” 

Next up for the Red is the IC4A/ECAC championships, which will be hosted in Princeton, N.J. this upcoming weekend.