While most students got to enjoy their final weekend without tests, the men’s and women’s track teams passed their first test of the new semester with flying colors. Both squads won their first scored meet of the season, the Upstate Challenge.
The wins followed strong performances by both squads at the Southern Tier Collegiate Open and Penn St. Relays over the holiday break.
Junior Garrett Huyler highlighted the Upstate Challenge, hosted by Cornell in Barton Hall on Saturday. Huylyer soared to an indoor school record of 7-1 in the high jump, making him an NCAA Provisional qualifier.
“I’m really excited,” Huyler said. “It’s nice to do well after all the practice and hard work. Our results really showed the effort we put in as a team.”
The men scored 230 points to win the Upstate Challenge while Buffalo finished a distant second place with 94 points. Syracuse placed third with 88 while Cortland, Binghamton, Colgate and Ithaca College finished fourth through seventh respectively.
The men concluded the meet with 11 event wins, one NCAA provisional qualifier, nine IC4A qualifiers and a school record.
“Some of the individual performances show how well we are doing,” said men’s head coach Nathan Taylor. “We had nine guys qualify for the IC4A and we had Garrett Huyler clear an indoor school record in the high jump which puts him in the top-5 or -6 high jumpers in the nation.”
The women were also victorious, accumulating a total of 229 points, which put them well ahead of second place Syracuse, which finished with 131 points. Buffalo came in third with 112 while Binghamton, Colgate, Cortland and Ithaca College rounded out the field.
The women won seven events and finished with seven ECAC individual qualifiers.
“I was very pleased with the way people competed,” said women’s head coach Lou Duesing. “It’s very early in the season and to see so many people break records shows how strong we are.”
Before this past weekend, though, the Red had a strong showing in its trip to the Penn State relays. Although the meet was not scored overall as a team, the Cornell men set three meet records, one school record and sixteen top-5 finishes on their way to five event victories. The team success was fueled by standout performances from the Red’s three NCAA provisional qualifiers and 18 IC4A qualifying performances.
The men’s event was hosted by Penn St. and included Princeton, Rider, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, Temple, West Virginia, Lock Haven and Lehigh.
“Every meet is a stepping stone for the championship events at the end of the season,” Taylor said. “Our team is definitely on the right track.”
The women also had a very impressive showing at the Penn St. relays claiming a total of five event victories, two NCAA provisional qualifiers, three new school records and 10 ECAC qualifiers.
The women’s event was hosted by Penn St. and included Villanova, West Virginia, Temple, Lehigh, Rider, St. Joseph’s and Lock Haven.
Junior Jeomi Maduka set three meet records and five school records, including two individual event crowns.
“Certainly you could argue that that was our best meet at the Penn St. Relays,” Duesing said. “The surprising thing is all the personal bests and ECAC qualifiers. It’s been a great start to the season.”