February 24, 2004

Track Squads Excel in Preparation for Heptagonals

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In a tune-up for this weekend’s two-day Heptagonal championship meet (Heps) at Barton Hall, both the men’s and women’s squads excelled with flying colors.

While many of the stars rested up this past Saturday, those trying to solidify or earn positions on the Heps team shined. Two Red women, junior Becky Tucker and sophomore Katie Regan, qualified for the ECAC meet, tying school records in the process. Turner threw a 57’09, while Regan cleared 11’09.75 in the pole vault.

On the men’s side, senior co-captain Giles Longley Cook, had a tremendous throw of 63-6 3/4, a personal record, which moved him to fourth place all-time at Cornell. Junior Zach Beadle was victorious in the shot put, which passed the IC4A standard. His mark was 50-8 1/4. At the conclusion of the day, the Red men placed three qualifiers for the IC4A.

Women

The Red women were led in the Deneault Invitational by none other than their strong leaders. Senior co-captain Hannah Garrity, who head coach Lou Duesing described as “one who provides vital leadership for our squad,” won the 60-meter high hurdle dash with an 8.88 second finish. Sophomore Jan Seale finished first in the 60 dash with a time of 7.91 seconds, while junior Kate Boyles notched a first place finish in the one-mile run with a time of five minutes, 3.9 seconds.

The Red women took home the first three spots in the 400 dash, as junior Shona Brown took the event with a time of 56.82. In the 500 dash, sophomore Ruth Morgan and senior Natalie Gingerich netted first and second place marks, with times of 1:16.51 and 1:17.30, respectively.

The Red also crushed their competition in the 800, capturing the top three, fifth and sixth places. The quintet was led by junior Carrie Richards, who finished first with a 2:18.26 time.

In other competition on Saturday, the Red took home the top four finishes in the 1,000 with freshman Nyam Kagwima leading the way with a 2:57.15 mark. In the 200 dash, the Red secured the top six places with Garrity heading the pack with 25.31. The high jump brought a win for freshman Sarah Wilfred, who had a jump of 5-07.

While the Red could have really relaxed this weekend and overlooked the mostly Division 3 competition at the Deneault Invitational, their performances have shown that they have maintained their strong focus.

“This is pretty much a no-nonsense team,” said Duesing. This week of practices will be crucial in conditioning this team toward a hopeful championship at the Heps this weekend.

Men

Head coach Nathan Taylor understood that his team needed to keep its rhythm this past weekend in preparation for defending their indoor Heps championship.

“My athletes have been training consistency all year, and most of them have to compete on a weekly basis to stay fresh, especially for next week [the indoor Heps],” he said.

Taylor certainly was proud of what his team accomplishment at the Deneault. “Each week’s competition is a building block for the next week,” said Taylor.

Sophomore Ross McGowan won the mile, posting a personal best time of 4:18.45. Sophomore James Connolly took the 500 with a solid time of 1:06.57. Junior Mike Allen boasted a 1:56.05 in the 800 to claim victory. He ended just ahead of freshman Will Seidel, who finished second with a time of 1:56.81. Freshman Aaron Arlinghaus won the 3,000 convincingly in a time of 8:38.21. Sophomore Brian Jarrett and junior Vasanth Coorg were second and third in that event, posting times of 8:52.03 and 8:58.33, respectively.

There was an abundance of second place finishes on the day as well. Freshman Evan Whitehall was second in the vault, with a mark of 15-3, sophomore Adam Farrell was second in the high jump, at 6-5, senior Murteza Haidri placed second in the 60 hurdles, with a time of 8.41, and the 4X800 relay placed second with a time of 8:10.02.

The most interesting part about this past weekend’s activity was the developments inside of Duesing’s and Taylor’s minds regarding the 33 out of about 65 runners they will be selecting for the Heps squad. Certainly injuries will play a role, but the last couple of weeks of competition, especially results at the Deneault Invitational will matter a great deal as to who will compete on Saturday and Sunday.

When asked which members of the men’s and women’s teams would make the final Heps roster, both coaches declined comment. The rosters will eventually be released as both coaches are set to choose 33 runners for Heps.

Archived article by Josh Fox