ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Indoor Heps returned to Barton Hall this past weekend and the Cornell track and field teams were cheered on by a boisterous crowd of over 100 alumni and a packed house. Always a festive atmosphere, the meet did not disappoint. The Cornell men, in particular, were very impressive, steam-rolling the Ivy League with a meet record 205 points, to out-distance second place Princeton by 56 (also a meet record for margin of victory) on the strength of nine event wins and seven other event runner-up finishes and three NCAA qualifying efforts. For the second straight year (and third in his career counting the 2007 outdoor meet), senior Muhammad Halim was voted the Meet's Most Outstanding Performer, winning both the long jump and triple jump yet again. The men won their fourth indoor Heps team title in the past six years, their ninth in the past eleven Heps track championships overall and their second in a row counting the 2007 outdoor meet.
On the women's side, a determined Big Red squad led after Day One and battled throughout the meet to score 100 points, finishing third in one of the closest women's team competitions in recent years, placing behind very good teams from Princeton (114 points to win the team title) and Brown (107 points). The women were led by junior Jeomi Maduka, who, like Halim, earned Most Outstanding Performer accolades (for the second time in a row at the indoor Heps and the third time in her career counting the 2007 outdoor meet). Maduka won three events with school record performances in each (60, long jump and triple jump), set a meet record (long jump) while eclipsing the NCAA automatic standard (the third best leap in the nation this year) and also reached an NCAA provisional mark in the triple jump. Clawing back into within five points of the lead mid-way through Sunday's program, the Big Red women never gave up and tallied a meet-best six first place finishes including the last two events of the meet. In the end, Princeton proved to be too strong and the Cornell women's unprecedented run of 6 straight indoor (and 12 straight overall) Heps titles ended where it began (in Barton Hall back in 2002).
The men had a phenomenal meet in defeating a very strong Princeton team. In fact, although Princeton was defeated by the largest margin in meet history, the Tigers scored 149 points and nearly eclipsed the old record for points scored as well (159 set in 2004) as the top two teams out-scored the rest of the League combined. The Big Red were relentless throughout the course of the meet and got off to a fantastic start on Saturday. With three field event finals contested on Day One, Cornell came away with event wins in all three, starting with junior Erik Roneker's inspired effort in the weight throw in which he responded to a stiff challenge from two outstanding competitors from Princeton with an NCAA provisional (and #4 all-time) victory at 64-5 1/4. Later in the day, sophomore Josh Kirkpatrick had a big break-through in the pole vault, clearing 16-4 3/4 to upset pre-meet form charts for victory, the sixth in the past seven years for the Cornell men in this event. And in the long jump, Halim captured his second straight indoor long jump crown, leaping 24-5 3/4 and was backed-up by sophomore Duane Teixeira, who placed second in a personal best 23-8. And in the other final contested on Saturday, junior Zach Hine ran a fine race in a tactical men's 3000 meters, placing fifth in 8:32.81. With 40 points on Saturday, the Big Red trailed Princeton by 4 but it was the terrific competitive efforts in the preliminary rounds that would set the stage for Sunday. In all, sixteen of the seventeen athletes who competed in Saturday's prelims advanced for Cornell, a remarkable feat. They were: seniors Jordan Lester (6.94) and David Mengel (7.02) in the 60, junior Marcel van Eeden (49.19), senior Adam Seabrook (49.39), sophomore Nate Crabtree (49.49) in the 400, senior Aaron Merrill (63.68), freshman Brian Freitas (65.34), sophomore Mike Kippins (65.74) in the 500, junior Andy Miller (4:15.89) and sophomore Charlie Hatch (4:14.99) in the mile, senior Mike Smayda (1:54.40) in the 800, sophomore Owen Kimple (2:32.14), senior Ian Ward (2:29.26), junior Eric Ryan (2:29.89) in the 1000, and seniors Saidu Ezike (7.99) and Merrill (8.01) in the 60 hurdles.
The women had a great start to the meet as well, also winning all three field event finals on Saturday, and leading after the first day of competition with 35 points, just ahead of Princeton's 33.5. Junior Maria Matos got the meet off to a great start for Cornell in the women's weight, winning her second straight title in this event (and the fifth in a row for the Cornell women) with a toss of 60-2 1/2. Senior Andrea Kavleski did well to make the final, ultimately missing scoring by one place with a mark of 49-5 1/2. Next up, sophomore Natalie Gengel had a great day in the women's vault, clearing an NCAA provisional qualifying 12-9 1/2, a school record and her first Heps title. In a very tight competition, Gengel came through in a jump-off with Princeton. And the women's third victory on Day One came in the long jump, as Maduka began her run towards Meet Most Outstanding Performer honors with a fantastic jump of 21-2. Just hours removed from playing on the Cornell women's basketball team against Dartmouth on Friday night, Maduka bested the NCAA automatic standard and set meet and school records. Also making the final was freshman Kim Lienhoop (8th, 17-11 3/4) and senior Joan Casey (9th, 17-11 3/4). Although a non-scoring effort in the long jump, tri-captain Casey's performance was one of the more inspiring and remarkable of the weekend: hospitalized the night before with the flu and a fever, she managed to make it to the meet in time for the long jump and her specialty, the 60 hurdles; somehow, she was able to qualify for the finals in both. In addition to the field events, Cornell also had very good performances in the 5000 meters and picked up five points in Saturday's lone track final as sophomore Stephanie Pancoast was fourth in a 21-second personal best of 17:06.46 and junior Marie Parks placed sixth after running a gutsy race in which she pressed the pace early, crossing the line in 17:18.28. Also running well were sophomore Erin Roberts (9th, 17:43.49) and sophomore Katie Sullivan (10th, 17:45.33). As mentioned, Casey conquered sickness to advance to two finals and the team as a whole did a terrific job advancing to Sunday's finals, with eleven getting through overall. The qualifiers were Maduka (7.61), sophomore Megan Williams (7.80) and junior Janice Nsor (7.81) in the 60, sophomore Jessica Weyman (25.15, #9 all-time) and Williams (25.72) in the 200, Weyman (56.63) and junior Tameka Royal (57.89) in the 400, senior Anjelica Gregory (2:12.14) and junior Amanda Wheat (2:12.37) in the 800 and Casey (8.96) and freshman Lauren Tanz (8.96) in the 60 hurdles.
With both teams poised for big days on Sunday, the men got off to a fantastic start in the program's very first event. In a competitive mile, junior Andy Miller ran a great race to place second in 4:07.89, nearly stealing the victory in the final lap. Also running very well was sophomore Charlie Hatch, who was fourth in 4:09.12. The Big Red continued to pick up steam in the very next final, as seniors Ezike and Merrill went 1-2 in the 60 hurdles, with Ezike crossing the line in a meet record 7.90 and Merrill finishing in 8.08. If there was any doubt about the Big Red's intentions they were squashed in the 400, the very next event, as Cornell went 1-2-3 behind great races from Seabrook (48.50), van Eeden (49.00) and Crabree (49.22). Cornell's impressive depth in the long sprints was further evident in the 500 as Merrill placed second in a fine effort, running 63.96; freshman Freitas was third in 64.83 and Kippins placed fifth in 65.51. And in a terrific race, seniors Jordan Lester and David Mengel came through with huge performances in the 60 dash. Lester reclaimed his Heps title from 2005 with a convincing win, crossing the line in 6.87 while Mengel came through with a fifth place 6.99.
Just as Cornell's lead was expanding on the track, Halim capped his remarkable weekend with a big win in the triple jump, winning with an NCAA provisional qualifying 52-7 1/2. Cornell ended up with 17 points in the event as Teixeira was third in 49-1 1/2 and sophomore Aaron Gadson was sixth in 48-2. Back on the track, Smayda ran a smart race and had a terrific last lap to place second in the 800 in 1:52.57 and classmate Ward placed fourth in the 1000 in 2:28.30; Kimple was sixth in 2:28.68 with Ryan just missing scoring in seventh in 2:29.22. The very next final was the 5000 meters, and Cornell stretched its lead to near insurmountable heights with a fantastic pair of efforts from the duo of Hine and senior Sage Canaday. Hine broke away from the field in the last mile and powered to victory in 14:25.88, number 10 all-time at Cornell and the Big Red's first victory in the event since Grant Whitney in 1986. Canaday ran a personal best 14:34.69 to place third. In the high jump, junior Garrett Huyler again reached the NCAA provisional standard in clearing 7-0 1/4 and placed second in an exciting competition. Junior Jim Smith (6-9 3/4) and sophomore Jay Pierce (6-6 1/4) were fourth and sixth, respectively. In the shot put, Roneker was third in 54-10 1/4 to complete a very productive Heps for him. With the meet in hand, Cornell closed out the weekend with strong relay performances. In the Distance Medley, Ward (3:05.2), Freitas (53.0 after dropping the stick), Hatch (1:54.8) and Miller (4:13.8) ran 10:07.00 for fourth and the 4X800 duplicated that effort with their own fourth place finish behind carries from Ryan (1:57.3), junior Jay Harding (1:52.9), Kimple (1:58.7) and Smayda (1:58.7), as the squad ran 7:48.28. In the 4X400, the quartet of van Eeden (49.7), Crabtree (49.0), Merrill (48.1) and Seabrook (48.7) closed out the meet in style for the men, winning in 3:15.88.
Although a meet best 11 Cornell women qualified through to Sunday's finals and although the team held on to a tiny lead after Saturday's finals, the Big Red women knew they would be in a tight battle with Brown and Princeton and the meet certainly lived up to its billing. After a strong showing by Princeton in the mile and Brown in the high jump, the women found themselves playing catch-up. A gutsy effort from Casey earned her fifth in the final of the 60 hurdles (8.98) and freshman Lauren Tanz earned her sash with a sixth place effort of 9.04. In the very next event, Weyman ran a terrific 56.17 (#6 all-time) in the 400 to place third in a very strong field. And then, in the 60, Maduka closed great to earn her first individual Heps track title, improving on a second place from a year ago, setting a school record 7.58; Megan Williams placed fifth to score her first career Heps points for Cornell. In the 800, Gregory and Wheat both ran 2:13.74 to place fourth and fifth, respectively, and all of a sudden the women's team contest was very tight: Princeton 67, Cornell 62 and Brown 60. The Big Red continued to accumulate points as Weyman finished sixth in the 200 in 25.93 (Williams was seventh in 25.94) and junior Aeriel Emig ran a gutty race to place fifth in the 3000 in 9:51.83 (Pancoast in 8th in 10:01.00 and Parks in 9th in 10:01.72 doubled back well from the 5000 but just missed scoring). In the shot put, Cornell got three outstanding scoring performances as Matos (fourth, 45-11 3/4) and freshman Cassie Schweighofer (fifth, 45-10 1/2) moved to fifth and sixth, respectively, all time at Cornell. Senior tri-captain Maria Telloni had a seasonal best 44-7 to get sixth in the event. Entering the relays, Cornell trailed by 20 points but the team refused to concede. The 4X800 ran a very good race to place second, behind legs from sophomore Kate Murdoch (2:14.5), junior Megan Rae (2:13.7), sophomore Lindsay Broyhill (2:14.1) and freshman Kim Standridge (2:16.1) as they ran a seasonal best 8:58.44. And in the meet's final track event, the Big Red won their seventh straight indoor 4X400 crown as Williams (57.7), Royal (57.1), junior Erin Payne (56.5) and Weyman (55.7) ran 3:47.35 to claim first by nearly a second. And to conclude the entire meet, it was only fitting that the women's triple jump finish the day as Maduka took center stage and saved her best jump of the day for last, setting another school record and again bettering the NCAA provisional standard with a mark of 43-1 3/4 to win her third event of the weekend and the sixth overall for the Cornell women.
Both Cornell teams were competitive across the board showing depth, and more impressively, breadth. The men scored in 18 of 19 events (missing out only in the heptathlon, where junior T.J. Toro still recorded the #2 mark in school history with a ninth place total of 4,932 points). Similarly, the women scored in 15 of 17 events, missing out only in the mile and the pentathlon (where the team didn't enter a competitor). The men were truly impressive in compiling 37 IC4A qualifying performances on the weekend to go along with a meet record and three NCAA qualifying efforts, not to mention the second straight Meet Most Outstanding Performer honors for Halim. Although the women were unable to win the team championship, the Big Red's effort was characterized by determination, competitiveness, heart and class and the squad continued to be among the elite in the League, with six event wins, one further event runner-up showing, 3 NCAA qualifying efforts, 19 ECAC qualifying performances, a meet record and the Meet's Outstanding Performer in Maduka.
Complete results can be found at:
Men:
http://www.lancertiming.com/results/winter08/hepsm.htm
Women:
http://www.lancertiming.com/results/winter08/hepsw.htm
More info on the meet can be found at:
http://therelays.blogspot.com/
Pictures and other info can also be found on the Cornell athletics web-site:
http://cornellbigred.com/
Next up for Cornell is the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Boston on March 8-9. After that, a number of Cornellians are qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, to be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 14-15.