The indoor track season ended on a high note for both the men’s and women’s squads, as each had very solid performances in the IC4A and ECAC championships, respectively. The men’s team finished ninth in the field of 51 and first among the Ivy teams. The women, coming off of a first place finish in the Heptagonal championships a week ago, finished eighth in the field of 48 and scored 42 points on the day, the most in school history.
MEN
After a frustrating second-place finish at the Heps, head coach Nathan Taylor brought a determined team to the IC4A meet. The victors of the competition were Manhattan College, who tallied 60 team points, followed by Seton Hall, Penn State, UConn, and Army. The eighth place finish is a stark improvement over last year’s 20th place finish.
A tremendous achievement on the day came from junior Oliver Tassinari, who was the top individual finisher for the Red. He ran to a second place finish in the mile with a time of 4:12.26. The time was only .66 seconds behind Army’s Phil Sakala.
Junior Emory Mort finished 13th in the 3,000 with a time of 8:25.44, while classmate Dan Hart claimed 22nd in the 5,000 with 14:59.11 finish.
Junior Brain Ermita was one of three runners to make the finals in his respective event, posting a time of 1:03.28 in the 500 to finish eighth.
Other solid finishes on the day came from freshman David Pell who finished fifth in the high jump with a 6-9 leap, and classmate Evan Whitehall who cleared a distance of 15-9, which was good for a seventh-place finish in the pole vault.
WOMEN
The 2004 Indoor Heptagonal champs took their show on the road and failed to disappoint.
Two school records were set, not including the overall points total, by junior Shonda Brown and senior Natalie Gingerich. Brown finished second in the 500 with a time of 1:13.11, while Gingerich placed second in the 1000 with a 2:47.25 time.
Head coach Lou Duesing said earlier in the season, “Our goals this year are to win the HEPs and score a the ECACs.” These goals were certainly accomplished for the Red.
Freshman Cameron Washington and junior Kari Steed both placed in the 400 for the Red. Washington recorded a Cornell freshman record in the preliminaries with a time of 55.99. Steed also holds Cornell’s second highest time in the 400 with a time of 55.54.
Senior Jessica Brown placed fifth in the 800, while classmate Hannah Garrity placed in the 55 meter hurdles and the 200. Also scoring in the competition was junior Carrie Richards, who competed in the 1000 and placed sixth.
While the indoor season is over for both the men’s and women’s track teams, both squads have little time to recuperate as they prepare for the outdoor season. The Red women are shooting for their sixth consecutive outdoor Heptagonal championship, while the men’s outdoor season begins March 20 at the Collegiate Classic in Long Beach.
Archived article by Josh Fox