Track and field teamed up with the University of Pennsylvania to sweep the team titles against Oxford and Cambridge in the 2026 Transatlantic Series on June 27, claiming decisive men’s, women’s and combined victories in Cambridge, England.
Competing at Wilberforce Road in temperatures that climbed into the 90s, the Red and the Quakers defeated the combined Oxford and Cambridge squad, 114-83 in the men’s competition and 130-65 in the women’s meet. The Penn-Cornell team also won the combined title, 244-148.
The Transatlantic Series is one of track and field’s oldest international fixtures, dating back to 1894, before the first modern Olympic Games.
The series is now part of a rotating international exchange, and since 1953, Cornell and Penn have joined forces against the combined Oxford and Cambridge squad, known as the Achilles Club.
Cornell athletes delivered several notable performances this year.
Junior Peter Northrup led the men’s throws, winning the hammer throw with a mark of 58.14 meters and the shot put at 17.19 meters. Senior Ryder King crossed first in both hurdle races, finishing the 110-meter hurdles in 14.37 seconds and the 400-meter hurdles in 52.24 seconds, though he competed as a non-scoring guest in the latter event.
On the women’s side, Senior Avery Hilliard won the pole vault after clearing 3.90 meters, and sophomore Gabriella Vizcarrondo opened the meet with a hammer throw victory at 46.74 meters. Cornell also contributed to a strong field showing, with senior Paula-Marie Brown sharing the top long jump mark and senior Anika Sukumar adding a third-place finish in the triple jump.
“It was incredibly special to compete in such a historic event,” Hilliard wrote in an email to The Sun. “Pole vaulting while building lasting friendships across the Atlantic made it an experience I will always cherish.”
The sweep marked another successful Atlantic crossing for Cornell and Penn, whose combined men’s team remains undefeated in the series since 1970.
