February 22, 2010

Track Teams Honors Marc Deneault ’01 in Weekend Invitational

Print More

Competing in the final meet before Heps, the track and field teams put forth impressive performances last Saturday at Barton Hall in the Marc Deneault Invitational. Over 20 teams and 900 athletes participated in the weekend events while Deneault’s twin brother, Richard, and the rest of his family came to watch in commemoration of Marc Deneault ’01.

Cornell commemorated Deneault with several great performances, including 10 event wins for the women and seven event wins for the men’s team. The women’s team started the day well with an event win in the mile from senior captain Stephanie Pancoast, followed by another event win in the pole vault by senior pole vaulter Natalie Gengel. The seniors had a dominating showing with senior sprinter Krystal Williams winning the 60m dash for the second-straight week and senior Kate Backel winning the 300m dash. Backel’s time was good enough for the fourth-best time in Cornell history, while senior captain Megan Williams set the eighth-best time in school history in the same race to finish just behind Backel.

The female senior athletes continued to compile more victories as the day went on. Senior Lindsay Broyhill led a Cornell sweep of the top three in the 800m run with sophomore Bry Bonavita and junior Alana Levy taking second and third, respectively. Senior Erin Roberts led a six-place sweep of the 3000m run, while junior Anna Scull led a different six-place sweep –– this time in the 1000m run –– with senior Caroline Heidt closely behind. Junior Kim Strandridge had a personal best time to win the 600.

The high level of performance was not limited to the track, as sophomore Melissa Hewitt recorded the fifth-best Cornell distance in the long jump to win the event, while freshman Savannah Johnson won the triple jump. Freshman Victoria Imbesi took second in the shot put while junior Cassie Schweighofer took second in the weight throw.

The men’s team also had a great day on the field. Senior Jay Pierce won the high jump and fellow senior Scott Gorski recorded the same distance to take second. Senior Rick Zamora placed first in the pole vault while junior Julian Remouns won the triple jump and sophomore Vince Formica won the long jump. Sophomore Bob Belden continued to add to his list of great performances this season by winning the shot put and taking fifth in the weight throw, while senior Damian Silverstrim took third in the shot put.

The track also provided an opportunity for the men to shine. The senior combination of Dale Taylor and Brad Bogdan placed first and second, respectively, in the 5000. The Red swept the top five in the 800m run, with freshman Will McFall taking the victory. In the 60m hurdles, freshman Ben Moody and junior Andrew Corridore took first and second, respectively. To finish off the great day, sophomore Dan Thomas took second in the 400m dash and sophomore Karl Delaroche took second in the 500m dash.

Although the meet was very successful, it was slightly odd for senior sprinter Krystal Williams.

“The meet overall was good,” Williams said. “But because of a false start and a computer problem in the 60m dash, there was a long pause before the race, and it kind of threw me off.”

Williams also admitted she was excited to run against good competition in that particular race, and ended up emerging as the victor.

“There were some good girls in that race, especially a girl who’s from Essex,” Williams said.

With this last pre-championships meet behind it, the Red is now focused entirely on Heps.

“Everyone is getting into the Heps mindset,” Williams said. “We’re focusing on sleeping well, eating well, taking care of our bodies, warming up and cooling down well and icing if we have to. … I’m starting to see people amped up and hyped up for the championships this season.”

Original Author: Wankyu Lee