This past Friday, the Red teamed up with the University of Pennsylvania to beat Oxford and Cambridge 13-6 in the men’s side and 14-5 in the women’s side of the Transatlantic Series held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This competition, dating back to 1894, features a joint squad of track and field athletes from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, collectively known as the Achilles Club. Every few years, the Series takes place, alternating locations between the U.S. and the UK, and sees a track and field competition between a combined Cornell-Penn or Yale-Harvard team and British/Irish team as part of a long-standing athletic exchange program.
Points are determined by the top performing athletes in each event. Each team selects two individuals to be designated scorers for an event, and only one point is given per event.
One of the key philosophies that head coach Jerry Monner has stressed throughout the year is mental fortitude. Adopting this philosophy has reinvigorated the Red during the 2024-2025 season.
“I think getting into the correct mindset has had the biggest impact on my success so far this year,” said freshman thrower Peter Northrup. “More specifically, buying into our program and trusting the coaching. We definitely have some unorthodox training methods, but trusting that our coach knows what he’s doing, has our best interest in mind and is setting us up to be the best we can be has definitely been huge.”
In the men’s 100m, the Red claimed four of the top five spots with notable times of 10.63 for senior Domenic Barresi, earning him second place, and 10.76 for the freshman phenom Panashe Nhenga, earning him third place.
On the women’s side, superstar freshman Natasha Redmond set a new personal record with a time of 11.96 while getting first place overall. Senior Jada Smith also achieved podium status with a 12.10 performance, good for third place and a new personal best.
For the men’s 200m, the duo of Barresi and Nhenga continued their hot streak, finishing first and second with times of 21.33 and 21.77 respectively.
“I would say the training atmosphere we have at Cornell this year has definitely grown quite a bit in our 100m and 200m department since when I was a freshman,” Barresi said. “Having my whole training group [has pushed] me to better myself in practice and get to the next level. The competitiveness really drives us in practice, but also, we all want to see each other succeed.”
In the men’s 400m, the Red swept the podium. Junior Michael Mazero achieved a time of 47.77 and a first place victory, and he was followed by senior Fabien De Silva at 47.86 and freshman Seamus Finn with a time of 49.10.
Junior Katja Jackson had a race to remember in the women’s 800m, holding off Achilles Club sprinter Annabel Hedge and fellow teammate, senior Madelyn Poole, in the final moments to secure first place with a blazing time of 2:09:10. Poole finished in third place with a time of 2:13.58.
Freshman Hannah Kersten was the Red’s sole representative in the women’s 1500m, and she delivered a time of 4:40.28, good for third place.
In the men’s 4x100m, Cornell’s A-squad, which includes the likes of De Silva, Nhenga, Mazero and Barresi, delivered a first place victory with a time of 40.89. This group has continuously delivered dominant performances on the relay and looks to fine tune the baton exchange for future success.
The women’s high jump saw freshman Johanna Stuard accomplish a second place finish after cruising through heights of 1.56m, 1.61m and 1.66m on her first attempts. Unfortunately, she did not clear her next height of 1.71.
The Red swept the podium in the men’s pole vault, with senior Eli Gault-Crabb clearing a final height of 5.16m, earning him a first place finish and etching his name into Cornell’s top 10 list. Junior Kegan Mancabelli cleared a final height of 5.06m and sophomore Ryan Brynjolfson’s 4.46m clearance earned them second and third place respectively.
As the Series wrapped up, sophomore Avery Hastings and Northrup both achieved strong performances in their respective field events to win first place by comfortable margins. Hastings’ mark of 55.57m in the women’s hammer throw came on her last attempt and set up an impressive victory margin of 5.35m.
Northrup’s event-winning throw in the men’s shot put also came on the last attempt, where he achieved a distance of 17.18m. The next closest distance was 16.73m, thrown by Penn sophomore Kai Deines.
“I try not to put too much thought into being a freshman,” Northrup said. “It’s definitely a good feeling being one of the youngest guys out there [and] competing with the big dogs, but more than anything it serves as a reminder that I have a lot left in the tank.”
Looking forward, the Red will split squads as it participates in the Bison Outdoor Challenge hosted in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and the South Florida Invitational hosted in Tampa, Florida over the upcoming weekend. With just four short weeks until the Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, Cornell will look to make a mark on its few remaining opportunities on the track.
Buzmael Joanus is a Sun Contributor and can be reached at bwj27@cornell.edu.
