he men’s and women’s track teams hit the road this weekend, with some athletes heading to the highly competitive Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn., while a number of other athletes traveled to Pennsylvania for the Bucknell Outdoor Classic. Although separated by hundreds of miles, many of the Red’s competitors had similar results – victory.
At the Sea Ray Relays, the jumpers led the way for Cornell, as junior David Pell won the high jump with mark of 6-10 3/4. Junior Sarah Wilfred was also in a winner in the high jump, setting a new school record with a jump of 6-0 1/2.
Also for the men’s team, junior Rayon Taylor had a third-place finish in the triple jump with an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark with a distance of 52-0 1/2. Junior Evan Whitehall was third in the pole vault with a leap of 16-6 3/4, which was also an NCAA regional-qualifying mark.
“This meet was huge – there was so much great competition,” Whitehall said.
The Red jumpers have had a string of good meets, as they have managed numerous NCAA regional-qualifying marks in recent competition. Pell recently cleared the all-important 7-0 mark at the UC-Irvine Classic.
“He’s like a cornerstone,” Whitehall said. “Dave has had regional-qualifying jumps at all these meets. And he always shows up mentally, [he’s] always ready to go.”
On the track, the 4×800 relay team took fifth with a time of 7:32.80, while sophomore Jimmy Wyner was 12th in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:51.64.
The women were also strong in the jumps at the Sea Ray Relays, with Wilfred leading the way. She was also named as the meet’s Most Outstanding Female Field Event Athlete. Also performing well was senior Jamie Greubel, who finished seventh in the high jump, with a mark of 5-8.
“I was very pleased with the team,” said women’s head coach Lou Duesing. “They keep setting records – it makes every meet more exciting.”
Meanwhile, at the Bucknell Classic, senior Sheeba Ibidunni led the way, with a NCAA regional-qualifying mark of 179-3 in the hammer throw. Her throw was also a new school record.
“It’s great to see her get everything going at the right time,” Duesing said.
On the track, freshman Jessica Retelny won both the 100 and 200 meters with times of 12.13, and 25.14, respectively. The 4×400 relay team was victorious with a time of 3:55.37. In the field, junior Karen Snyder was a winner for Cornell, taking first place in the triple jump with a mark of 37-7 1/4. Freshman Maria Matos was also victorious in the discus, with a throw of 153-4.
On the men’s side at Bucknell, sophomore Adam Seabrook won the 400-meter hurdles with an NCAA regional-qualifying time of 52.61. Junior Brad Baird won the 10,000 meters with a time of 30:37.23. In the decathlon, junior Adam Farrell was victorious with a total score of 6,311 points.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Senior Editor