Cornell Track and Field has dazzled expectations this season by continuously posting impressive results, personal bests and school records. The team will head to The Armory New Balance Track and Field Center for two consecutive weekends before returning to Ithaca for their last home meet. Following this will be the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, also hosted at The Armory.
“This is actually the track where we’ll be having the HEPS Championships in New York,” said Men’s Head Coach Adrian Durant. “So, we’re expecting to go there, feel the track out and start putting some pretty good performances out there.”
The women’s team is currently ranked second in the Northeast Region, and the men’s team is ranked fourth. Both teams are directly competing with other Ivy League teams, which puts the Red in a great position to come away with the Ivy League Champions title on both sides.
“Our goal has been pretty consistent over the past year or so,” Durant said. “We want to win.”
In anticipation of the final stretch of the season, many of the athletes, who have been traveling for meets, were resting this past weekend during the Kane Invitational hosted by Cornell. However, the team still succeeded.
On the men’s side, the throwers posted strong numbers along with another exciting performance in the hurdles. Senior Ian Frost threw a personal-best of 18.87m in the weight throw, earning him a win in the event. Junior Christian Martin again dropped his personal best in the 60m hurdles, running 8.00 seconds, which ranks him second in the Ivy League this season.
An Ivy League-leading result in the pole vault and notable performances in the sprints propelled the team’s success on the women’s side. Junior Victoria Atkinson won the pole vault with a personal best and top mark in the Ivy league, clearing 3.95m. Senior Maria Siciliano placed second in the event as well. Cornell again posted a 1-2 finish in the 200m run, with freshman Jada Smith winning the event in 25.56 seconds, followed closely by junior Bella Davis running 25.65 seconds.
Now the Red looks to familiarize themselves with the track where they hope to walk away as champions on Feb. 27. The team will prepare themselves to compete to the best of its ability until then.
“Some of the other teams in the Ivy League are very strong right now. Maybe the strongest they’ve ever been,” Durant said. “But we’re strong as well and at the end of the day, it comes down to who’s ready to show up that day and compete.”