In a stunning display of resilience and skill, women’s track and field wrapped up its indoor season with remarkable performances cummulating in a sixth-place finish at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships at Gordon Indoor Track in Cambridge, MA.
This was followed by a triumphant first-place victory at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships in Boston.
At the Heptagonal Championships, which ran from Feb. 24-25, the Red accumulated 43 points — a ten-point increase from the previous year’s championship.
Junior Madelyn Packer scored third in the heptathlon and first in the long jump (5.59 meters), while senior Rachel Bonnet scored fifth in the heptathlon, shot put and 800-meter run. These efforts, along with freshman Avery Hilliard scoring sixth in the pole vault, led the charge scoring crucial points.
Junior Noelle Elkinton emerged as the star of the weekend by securing the shot put title with a career-best throw of 15.29 meters, catapulting her to second in the Cornell record books. Other notable performances included junior Augustine Haquet, who ran a personal-best mile of 4:40.90 — placing her fourth in Cornell history — and senior Lauren Jones, who sprinted to a fifth-place finish in the 60-meter dash.
The Red’s success continued at the March 1 ECAC Championship, where the team clinched the crown with 85 points, marking its first victory at the championships since the 2011-12 indoor season.
Sophomore Paula-Marie Brown and freshman Elaina Styer were instrumental in this achievement, securing the top spots in the pentathlon and collectively contributing 18 points to Cornell’s tally.
Freshman Imani Reid was a standout, breaking the school record in the 200-meter run with a time of 23.95 seconds. Haquet and junior Gwen Parks dominated the 1000-meter run, with Haquet setting a new school record of 2:44.55.
Performance at the competition highlighted the team’s depth as athletes across various events stepped up to secure points and podium finishes.
The future looks bright for women’s track and field, who will compete next at the Penn Challenge on March 23.
Dylan Drongesen is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].