This weekend the Cornell track and field teams finished off their indoor seasons with a trip to Boston for the ECAC/IC4A championships.
The women performed as rightful owners of the Heps championship title, finishing eighth out of the eighty participating schools.
“We’ve never done this well before,” said assistant coach Rich Bowman. “It was a great way to finish up the indoor season. It bodes well for what’s going to happen later on down the road,” he added.
Junior Katy Jay continued to build on her phenomenal indoor season, taking third in the 200m. She also contributed a leg to the 4x400m relay, which finished fourth.
The Red women were also a force in the 500m, where senior AnneMarie McMillan and freshman Jessica Brown finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Cornell’s distance runners were led by junior Natalie Whelan, who took sixth in the 1000m race. Whelan also helped the distance medley relay team speed to a fifth place finish.
The men turned in a slightly less impressive performance, placing 44th in the field.
“I think we fell somewhat short of our goals for the weekend,” said men’s coach Nathan Taylor. “It was hard for some of the guys to get psyched up for this meet after our performance at Heps,” he added.
On the upside, the men had a number of strong individual performances, three of which were good enough to earn the coveted All-East title. Junior Dan Dombroski and senior Max King both made the finals in the 5000m.
Dombroski ran down an eighth place, All-East finish, while King grabbed the 10th place spot. Senior thrower Jeremy Blanchet and sophomore pole vaulter Travis Offner also earned All-East honors.
Other athletes turned in season-best performances but couldn’t break into the final rounds. Senior middle distance runner Dan Meehan ran a personal best in the 800m prelims.
Two throwers, freshman Zach Beadle and junior Derek Kingrey also heaved new personal records.
The men’s and women’s teams will kick off their outdoor seasons with a trip to southern California over spring break. Their first meet, the Long Beach Classic, is set for March 16th.
“We’ve got some work to do, but we’re really looking forward to the outdoor season,” said Taylor.
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