oHeps17 — Men’s Hurdles

In the chase for the team title, Princeton is relying on a bucket load of points in the hurdles, starting with freshman Joey Daniels (Kitchener, Ont.) in the 110-meter highs. An IAAF World Youth silver medalist representing Canada, Daniels produced a series of great times over the slightly shorter barriers before getting to college. He had been ill prior to the indoor championship, which resulted in a disappointing fourth-place finish. While he’s run a windy 14.04 outdoor, expect him to set a personal best as a collegian this weekend.

If that assessment is wrong, Yale junior Paedyn Gomes (Chesterland, Ohio) could wrap up a high hurdle sweep this year. He won the indoor title at the Armory and has a faster legal mark (14.22) than Daniels this spring. Harvard junior Jay Hebert (Ticonderoga, N.Y.) ran strong against Gomes at the Harvard-Yale tussle a few weeks ago, setting a season-best at 14.33. Pencil him in for a podium spot. Dartmouth has a bevy of hurdlers who could be in the points’ hunt, led by sophomore Parker Johnson (Bellaire, Texas), senior Alex Frye (New Albany, Ohio) and senior multi-eventer Nico Robinson (Stanford, Calif.).

Johnson is the only runner who should expect to score in both hurdle disciplines as he is one of four men bunched up in the high 52s on the season’s conference intermediate list. But he is behind not one, but two Princeton Tigers — defending champion Greg Leeper (Rockaway, N.J.) and season leader Spencer Long (Fort Collins, Colo.), a football cornerback who has beaten Leeper twice this year.

There are three freshman who are in line for points, led by Penn’s Anthony Okolo (Union, N.J.), who has run 52.82 which is less than a quarter-second from the conference’s top time this spring. The other rookies who will be in the chase are Princeton’s Gab Montefalcone (Rome, Italy) and Harvard’s Jacob McLennan (Toronto, Ont.), both international students. — Brett Hoover (again with the resource aid of RoJo, who will be calling Sunday’s webcast action on the Ivy League Digital Network)

110m hurdles

Trials: Saturday, 3:25 pm
Final: Sunday, 1:15 pm

Heps Record
13.74, Max Hairston (Cornell, 2014)

Championship Record
13.86, Max Hairston (Cornell, 2016)

2017 Top 10
14.22 — Paedyn Gomes (Yale)
14.29 — Joey Daniels (Princeton)
14.33 — Jay Hebert (Harvard)
14.53 — Parker Johnson (Dartmouth)
14.60 — Austin Lyons (Cornell)
14.64 — Alex Frye (Dartmouth)
14.66 — Clayton Jeffrey (Cornell)
14.78 — Ben Colello (Dartmouth)
14.87 — Austin Loewen (Yale)
14.91 — Shawn Ohazuruike (Dartmouth)

400m hurdles

Trials: Saturday, 4:10 pm
Final: Sunday, 2:25 pm

Heps Record
49.24+, Bruce Collins (Penn, 1972)

Championship Record
50.16, Randy Cox (Penn, 1987)

2017 Top 10
52.61 — Spencer Long (Princeton)
52.78 — Greg Leeper (Princeton)
52.81 — Parker Johnson (Dartmouth)
52.82 — Anthony Okolo (Penn)
53.13 — Maxwell Comer (Cornell)
53.16 — Gab Montefalcone (Princeton)
53.19 — Jacob McLennan (Harvard)
53.46 — Alec Eschholz (Dartmouth)
53.79 — Rachid Zidani (Cornell)
53.94 — Clayton Jeffrey (Cornell)

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 4th, 2017 at 12:59 pm. It is filed under Featured, Heps Champs, Spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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