Last night, the Dartmouth women distance medley relay had a goal to reach the automatic qualifier for NCAAs in one of the most competitive DMR line-ups of the year, which included Arkansas, Tennessee, BYU, and league rival Princeton at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.  On paper, the goal seems achieveable, so they told the Dartmouth student newspaper.

By the anchor leg, Alexi Pappas (1200m), Megan Krumpoch (400m), and Christina Supino (800m) had done well enough to place Abbey D’Agostino in 5th place.  D’Agostino ran the fasted mile of the night, running a 4:34.8 to bring Dartmouth to 2nd place and edging out Connecticut 11:05.67 to 11:05.77.  The time breaks Dartmouth’s previous school record of 11:16.02 set last year. Arkansas won the event in 11:01.01.  Princeton’s squad (Greta Feldman, Eileen Moran, Kristin Smoot, and Alexis Mikaelian) finished 6th in 11:17.93.

Unfortunately, it was only Arkansas who surpassed the automatic standard of 11:03.50 that evening.  Dartmouth’s time is currently 7th in the country.  If the time remains in the National top 16 or if the team improves their time that beats the automatic standard, then Dartmouth will be heading off to Nationals.

Other New Balance Collegiate Invitational results from Friday night:

- Columbia placed two runners in the top 5 of the Women’s 5000m Championship.  Caroline McDonough finished 3rd in 16:26.62 (currently 7th in the nation) while teammate Emily Lanois finished 4th in 16:33.63.

- Columbia’s Liam Tansey placed third in the Men’s 1000m Championship in 2:25.70.

- Columbia’s Marvellous Iheukwumere ran a new personal best in the 60m, 7.56, to place 27th in the preliminaries.  The time is the 6th fastest in conference history.

- Penn’s Paige Madison finished 12th in the Women’s 400m College race with a new season’s best of 56.98.

Meanwhile, Harvard won the crowns to declare themselves “The Best in Boston” by winning the Battle of Beantown meets.  Two new school records were set as frosh Jarvis Harris (60HH – 8.11) and Alexandra Pace (PV – 12-6) won their events by large margins.  The highest scoring event for either gender was the shot put, as Shannon Watt (47-3.75) won the women’s event and Ben Glauser (58-6) led a 1-2-4-5 finish for the men with Dustin Brode, Igor Liokumovich and Edward Brucker.

At Yale’s Geigengack Invitational, Yale dominated the men’s 5000m as frosh Isa Qasim (14:52.41), Matthew Thwaites (14:54.04) and Kevin Lunn (14:55.29) claimed the top three spots.  Mike Levine was the other Bulldog event winner of the evening, winning the weight throw with 55-4.25.  Matthew Bieszard (200m – 22.24) and Dana Lindberg (LJ – 22-9.25) were edged out of the top spot in their respective events.  For the women, Emily Cable (200m – 25.33) and Amanda Snajder (LJ – 17-3.25) placed 2nd in their respective events.

New York City will be hosting one of the largest indoor track meets for collegians this weekend, where two-hundred colleges and universities from across the country will compete.  The New Balance Collegiate Invitational is bringing in some of the traditional track and field powerhouses (like Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M, and Wheaton College) to set national qualifying marks all over the NYC Armory.  However, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, and Princeton are looking to show these other schools to not count out anyone from the Ivy League.  The meet will start on Friday 2/3 at 10:25am with the Women’s 3000m Eastern race, and conclude on Saturday 2/4 6pm with the Men’s 4×400 Championship.  Flotrack will be there to interview the athletes and share race videos over the course of the two days.  A live webcast will be available at ArmoryTrack.com through NBCI, beginning at 2:30pm on Friday.

Elsewhere in the League…

- Yale will be hosting their annual Geigengack Invitational on both Friday and Saturday. The two-day non-scoring competition will begin on Friday at 5:00 p.m. with the field events and conclude on Saturday around 5:30p.m.  Penn is also scheduled to compete at Geigengack, as well as many other teams from the northeast region.

- Harvard will be hosting the Battle of Beantown on Friday, challenging MIT, Boston University, and Northeastern to see who deserves the coveted beanpot trophy.  The Crimson women have won the meet for the last three years, whereas the Crimson men won the trophy in both 2009 and 2010.

- Members of the Cornell and Princeton’s squads will travel to Penn State on Saturday to compete in the Sykes & Sabock Invitational.  The rest of the Cornell teams will participate in the Ithaca College Indoor Bomber Invitational.

- The Brown teams will head down on Saturday to Kingston, RI to participate in the Tribute to Charlie Torpey, a new meet established to remember and celebrate the life of Charles Torpey, a former La Salle head cross country and track & field coach who passed away July 1, 2011 at the age of 58.

With less than a month to go until Indoor Heps, it’s time to see how the conference is looking through the events.  HepsTrack will only be looking at the events contested at Indoor Heps (except for relays and multis).  We do expect these times and placings to change over the next few weeks.  Indoor Heps schedule is up under the Championships tab.

No predictions on victors will be placed as anything can happen in Ithaca at the end of February.  Twelve of these events are looking for new people to wear their crowns, as nine of these events were won by now-graduate seniors.  Sprinters Sharay Hale of Columbia and Austin Hollimon of Princeton will not be defending their crowns this year due to injury or Olympic qualifying training.

Update: full listings can be found at Track and Field Results Reporting System

Men:

60m dash

1. Chris Bain (Cornell) – 6.82
2. John Spooney (Brown) – 6.85
3. Jedidiah Adarquah-Yiadon (Cornell) – 6.88  (2011 Champion)
4. Chase Aaronson (Cornell) – 6.90
5. Kinsley Ojukwo (Cornell) and Connor Reilly (Dartmouth) – 6.95

Note: all men in the top 6 were scorers in the 2011 final (see image)

400m dash

1. Tom Hopkins (Princeton) – 48.33
2. Kashif Smith (Princeton) – 49.51
3. Andre Anderson (Cornell) and Brian Rosenthal (Penn) – 49.69
4. Jalil Bishop (Dartmouth) and Cody Love (Columbia) – 49.73

Note: Hollimon is taking the year off to focus on qualifying in the 400m hurdles for the 2012 Olympics.  Hopkins is the top returning scorer from 2011.

500m dash

1. John Dingus (Harvard) – 1:04.00
2. Rutger Admirand (Cornell) – 1:04.23
3. Connor Claflin (Columbia) – 1:04.33
4. Brian Freitas (Cornell) – 1:04.61
5. Harry McFann (Columbia) – 1:04.69
6. Matt Bieszard (Yale) – 1:04.74

Notes: Freitas is the top returning scorer, while Dingus and Bieszard also scored in 2011.

800m run

1. Peter Callahan (Princeton) – 1:51.91
2. Brian Fulton (Penn) – 1:52.85
3. Bradley Paternostro (Princeton) – 1:52.96
4. Michael Palmisano (Princeton) – 1:53.37
5. Russell Dinkins (Princeton) – 1:53.44 (2011 Champion)
6. Connor Reck (Harvard) – 1:53.74

1000m run

1. Peter Callahan (Princeton) – 2:20.78 (2011 Champion)
2. Kyle Merber (Columbia) – 2:22.52
3. Bradley Paternostro (Princeton) – 2:23.91
4. Trevor van Ackeron (Princeton) – 2:24.80
5. John Schilkowsky (Cornell) – 2:24.89
6. Nick Wade (Cornell) – 2:25.10

Mile run

1. Peter Callahan (Princeton) – 4:03.76
2. John Bleday (Dartmouth) – 4:04.02
3. Joe Stilin (Princeton) – 4:04.37
4. John Gregorek (Columbia) – 4:07.11
5. Trevor van Ackeron (Princeton) – 4:08.03
6. Matt Miner (Dartmouth) – 4:09.45

3000m run

1. Joe Stilin (Princeton) – 7:56.28
2. Dan Lowry (Brown) – 8:02.40
3. Donn Cabral (Princeton) – 8:04.00 (2011 Champion)
4. Kyle Merber (Columbia) – 8:10.74
5. Chris Bendtsen (Princeton) – 8:12.88
6. Adam Behnke (Columbia) – 8:12.38

Note: Stilin’s time is 4 seconds away from the NCAA automatic qualifying mark for the event.

5000m run

1. Mike Murphy (Columbia) – 14:11.18
2. Adam Doherty (Dartmouth) – 14:21.72
3. Jon Gault (Dartmouth) – 14:27.09
4. Dylan O’Sullivan (Dartmouth) – 14:40.95
5. Austin Snyder (Brown) – 14:49.24
6. Matthew Pierce (Dartmouth) – 14:52.11

60m hurdles

1. Dan Hagberg (Cornell) – 8.00 (2011 Champion)
2. Richard Sheldon (Princeton) – 8.20
3. Jarvis Harris (Harvard) – 8.23
4. Robert Mohr (Princeton) – 8.30
5. Tom Hopkins (Princeton) – 8.32
6. Zach Zeller (Cornell) – 8.36

High Jump

1. Montez Blair (Cornell) – 7-3.25
2. Maalik Reynolds (Penn) – 7-3 (2011 Champion)
3. Chris Arlinghaus (Cornell) – 6-10.75
4. Tommy Butler (Cornell) – 6-9.75
5. Jeremy Birck (Dartmouth) – 6-8.25
6. Ikechi Nnamani (Penn) – 6-7

Note: Both Blair and Reynolds are within 1.25 inches of hitting the automatic qualifying mark of 7-4.25.

Pole Vault

1. Dave Slovenski (Princeton) – 17-7.25 (2011 Champion)
2. Nico Weiler (Harvard) – 16-4.75
3. Peter Roach (Cornell) – 15-11
4. Josh Cusick (Cornell) and David Kim (Cornell) – 15-9
5. Adam Bragg (Princeton), Jason Marks (Columbia), and Keith Rayburn (Cornell) – 15-5

Note: Slovenski’s height is the current Ivy League record, set in December 2011.

Long Jump

1. Steven Bell (Cornell) – 24-4.5 (2011 Champion)
2. Tom Hopkins (Princeton) – 23-11.75
3. Shane Molidor (Princeton) – 23-7.5
4. Damon McLean (Princeton) – 23-5.5
5. Chase Aaronson (Cornell) – 23-4
6. Vince Formica (Cornell) – 23-2.5

Triple Jump:

1. Steven Bell (Cornell) – 48-8.25
2. Nana Owusu-Nyanteky (Princeton) – 48-5.25
3. Dan Scott (Cornell) – 48-2.75
4. Garner McCloud (Princeton) – 48-0.75
5. Jarvis Harris (Harvard) – 47-2.5
6. Efayomi Carr (Penn) – 47-1.75

Shot Put

1. Stephen Mozia (Cornell) – 59-9
2. Ben Glauser (Harvard) – 59-3.5
3. Bob Belden (Cornell) – 57-7.75
4. Patrick Park (Princeton) – 55-10.25
5. Dom Filiano (Dartmouth) – 55-6.5
6. Dustin Brode (Harvard) – 53-11

Notes: Mozia and Glauser’s marks are just outside of the all-time conference top-10, as Geoff Seay (Princeton, 1985) holds the #10 spot with 59-11.75

Weight Throw

1. Duncan Dickerson (Columbia) – 59-6.75
2. Dustin Brode (Harvard) – 56-6.75
3. Bob Belden (Cornell) – 56-0
4. Ben Glauser (Harvard) – 55-7
5. Michael Levine (Yale) – 55-6.5
6. Matthew Poleda (Harvard) – 54-8.75

Women:

60m dash

1. Eileen Moran (Princeton) – 7.62
2. Melissa Hewitt (Cornell) (2011 Champion) and Marvellous Iheukwumere (Columbia)  – 7.63
3. Lydia Ali (Penn) – 7.66
4. Danielle Barbian (Harvard) – 7.70
5. Gabrielle Piper (Penn) – 7.73

200m dash

1. Eileen Moran (Princeton) – 24.68
2. Melissa Hewitt (Cornell) – 24.69
3. Kyra Caldwell (Columbia) – 24.79
4. Katie Woodford (Cornell) – 24.82
5. Lydia Ali (Penn) – 25.15
6. Lauren Waterbury (Brown) – 25.20

Note: Hale is not competing in 2012 in order to recover from recent foot surgery.

400m dash

1. Megan Krumpoch (Dartmouth) – 56.05
2. Renee McDougall (Penn) – 56.31
3. Gabrielle Scott (Harvard) – 57.13
4. Miata Morlu (Columbia) – 57.16
5. Yamira Bell (Columbia) -57.22
6. Lydia Ali (Penn) – 57.23

Note: Hale is not competing in 2012 in order to recover from recent foot surgery.

800m run

1. Megan Looney (Harvard) – 2:10.02
2. Molly Glantz (Cornell) – 2:10.31
3. Annelies Gamble (Yale) – 2:10.98
4. Victoria Strickland (Penn) – 2:11.45
5. Greta Feldman (Princeton) – 2:12.37
6. Andrea Keklak (Princeton) – 2:12.60

Mile run

1. Abbey D’Agostino (Dartmouth) – 4:36.64
2. Alexi Pappas (Dartmouth) – 4:42.66
3. Christina Supino (Dartmouth) – 4:47.60
4. Alex Banfich (Princeton) – 4:51.45
5. Emily Lanois (Columbia) – 4:52.47
6. Sarah Barry (Yale) – 4:52.60

Notes: D’Agostino is the current national leader in the mile

3000m run

1. Alexi Pappas (Dartmouth) – 9:14.75
2. Katie Kellner (Cornell) – 9:34.32
3. Melissa Newbery (Princeton) – 9:37.95
4. Genna Hartung (Cornell) – 9:41.57
5. Abby Levene (Princeton) – 9:43.61
6. Kailyn Kuzmuk (Harvard) – 9:43.72

5000m run

1. Katie Kellner (Cornell) – 16:11.38
2. Alex Banfich (Princeton) – 16:33.17
3. Genna Hartung (Cornell) – 16:38.32
4. Elizabeth Marvin (Yale) – 16:56.03
5. Katie Sullivan (Dartmouth) – 17:02.74
6. Lindsey Raymond (Yale) – 17:03.07

60m hurdles

1. Susan Scavone (Brown) – 8.54
2. Kyra Caldwell (Columbia) – 8.64 (2011 Champion)
3. Danielle Silas (Cornell) – 8.73
4. Gabrielle Piper (Penn) – 8.75
5. Taylor Baird (Cornell) – 8.76
6. Tejumade Adewole (Princeton) – 8.78

Note: Caldwell is the two-time defending champion of this event.

High Jump

1. Mary Hirst (Harvard) – 5-9.75
2. Monique Roberts (Columbia) – 5-9.25 (2011 Champion)
3. Jennifer Bush (Cornell), Kristen Judge (Penn), and Tara Richmond (Columbia) – 5-7
4. Janae Dunchack (Dartmouth) – 5-6

Note: Roberts and Hirst both cleared 5-9.25 at 2011 Heps but Roberts got the win due to fewer misses.  Roberts is the two-time defending champion in this event.

Pole Vault

1. Tory Worthen (Princeton) – 12-9.5 (2011 Champion)
2. Claire Dishong (Cornell), Sarah Engle (Columbia), Lauren Tauscher (Princeton) – 12-1.5
3. Jillian Hart (Penn) – 11-11.75
4. Samantha Brady (Cornell), Sydnie Leroy (Harvard), Lindsey Patterson (Cornell), and Emily Urciuoli (Yale) – 11-9.75

Long Jump

1. Melissa Hewitt (Cornell) – 20-3
2. Uju Ofoche (Columbia) – 20-0.25 (2011 Champion)
3. Olivia Weeks (Harvard) -18-11.75
4. Ashytnn Baltimore (Harvard) – 18-8
5. Kristin Brandt (Cornell) – 18-3
6. Anjelique Parnell (Cornell) – 18-2.5

Note: Ofoche edged out Hewitt for the 2011 crown by 2 centimeters (0.75 inches)

Triple Jump

1. Nadia Eke (Columbia) – 41-3.25
2. Imani Oliver (Princeton) – 40-9.75
3. Olivia Weeks (Harvard) – 40-1.5
4. Kristin Brandt (Cornell) – 39-6.5
5. Savannah Johnson (Cornell) – 39-2.25
6. Catherine Okoukoni (Penn) – 38-4.75

Shot Put

1. Victoria Imbesi (Cornell) – 48-0.75
2. Emmaline Berg (Dartmouth) – 47-1.75
3. Shannon Watt (Harvard) – 45-5.75
4. Jessica Eason (Brown) – 44-11
5. Corinne Kominkiewicz (Dartmouth) – 44-1.25
6. Chukwunonso Okwelogu (Princeton) – 43-1.75

Weight Throw

1. Adabelle Ekechuwu (Harvard) – 59-11
2. Lacey Craker (Brown) – 54-11.75
3. Taylor DuPont (Harvard) – 53-7.5
4. Nnenna Okwara (Columbia) – 52-11
5. Cathy Liebowitz (Dartmouth) – 52-10.75
6. Erin Rossi (Cornell) – 52-2.75

Photo by Michael Karas

And now, for the remainder of the action that occurred this past weekend (follow this link for the majority of Friday night action)…

Saturday Night at the Armory II

The men’s meet was 1-2-3 Ivy, as Princeton claiming the laurels (160.5) over Cornell (147) and Harvard (98.5).  Columbia was 5th overall (40).  Peter Callahan (1000m – 2:20.78) and Joe Stilin (3000m – 7:56.28) led 1-2-3 and 1-2-3-4 sweeps for the Tigers in their respective events (both winning times were new school records).  In the shot put, it was the battle of the freshmen as  Cornell’s Stephen Mozia (see image)  (59-9) edging out Harvard’s Ben Glauser (59-3.5) for the event win.  Cornell’s Bob Belden was almost two feet behind in 3rd (57-7.75).  It was also a close battle in the pole vault as two recent Hep champions went head-to-head for the first time this season as  Harvard’s Nico Weiler (16-4.75) outjumped Princeton’s Dave Slovenski (15-11) for the event win.  Cornell’s Peter Roach also cleared 15-11 but was third due to clearing the height at a later attempt than Slovenski.  Columbia’s Duncan Dickerson won the weight throw (59-6.75) for the Lion’s lone individual event win of the evening.  Columbia edged out Princeton in the 4×400 relay to claim the win, 3:20.16 to 3:20.75.

The women’s meet had Cornell Big Red claiming the crown over Princeton, 158.5 to 133.5.  Harvard was 4th with 99 points.  Princeton’s Eileen Moran held off Cornell’s Melissa Hewitt in the 60m dash, 7.62 to 7.64.  Hewitt claimed victory in the 200m (24.69) with teammate Katie Woodford claiming the silver (25.37).  Moran was also a part of the winning 4×400 relay (3:46.12), while Harvard (3:4741) edged out Cornell (3:47.47) for 2nd in the relay.  Harvard won the middle distance events as Meg Looney won the 800m (2:10.02) and Alaina Murphy won the mile (4:53.84).  Cornell was very successful in the 1000m as they claimed 1st (Alyssa O’Connor – 2:50.68), 3rd (Lauren Lloyd – 2:52.08), 4th (Dale Kinney – 2:54.07), and 5th (Liz Reamer – 2:54.43).

Joe Donahue Collegiate Indoor Games (formerly Reebox Indoor Games)

The Brown women won the team title in the renamed Joe Donahue Collegiate Indoor Games on Friday night.  The team won five events, with the most dominant event being the 3000m.  Brown went 1-2-4-5-6, with Heidi Caldwell earning the win in 9:41.84,  Margaret Connelly in 2nd, Ari Garber in 4th, Olivia Mickle in 5th, and Elaine Kuckertz in 6th.  Suscan Scavone (55 HH – 8.04), Lauren Waterbury (200m – 25.20), Bree Shugarts (mile – 4:55.60), and the 4×400 relay had the other event wins.

The Brown men placed 2nd at the meet, with Connecticut winning the team title.  Brown’s two event wins came in the mid-distance events, as Erik Berg won the 1000m (2:27.98) and Kevin Cooper won the mile (4:12.49).  Brown also had men place top three in the 800m (3rd – Matt Bevil), mile (2nd – Anthony Schurz), 5000m (2nd – Austin Snyder), and 4×400 relay (2nd - Ajani Brown, InSoo Hwang, Zach Keefer, and Evan Weinstock).

Boston University Terrier Classic

The Yale and Dartmouth men and selected individuals from various men’s teams in the conference competed on Day 2 of the Boston University Terrier Classic.

• Yale’s Paul Chandler was the top finisher of the day, placing 5th overall (3rd collegian) in the pole vault with a height of 14-11.  Other top 10 finishes include Matt Levine in the weight throw (9th – 52-5.5) and the 4×400 relay (10th – Matt Bieszard, William Rowe, Clifford Van Meter, and Mario Kranjac).
• Dartmouth’s most successful event at the meet was the high jump, where Sam Yoder and Jeremy Birck cleared 6-6.75 and placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.  Other top 6 finishes include Connor Reilly in the 60m dash (6th – 6.97) and John Bleday in the mile (6th – 4:04.02).
• Brown’s Dan Lowry and John Spooney both had top 6 finishes in their respective events.  Lowry was 6th in 8:02.40 in a competitive 3000m race (he was also the 4th collegian finisher).  Spooney finished 6th in the 200m with 21.59, and was the 3rd fastest collegian in the event.
• Columbia’s Kyle Merber was also in the 3000m, placing 12th overall with 8:10.74.

Penn State National Invitational

Brian Fulton may had been the only male Quaker representative in State College, but it was still a successful journey.  Fulton was the top collegian and 2nd overall in the invitational 1000m with 2:25.84.  The winner was unattached runner Mike Banks in 2:25.60.

Victoria Strickland won the 500m for the lone Quaker win in State College, winning the event in 1:14.26.  Christine Cohick also ran well, placing 4th overall (3rd collegian) in the 5000m with 17:20.45.  The 4×800 relay came 3rd with 9:11.85 while Jillian Hart placed 5th in the pole vault with 11-11.75.

Welsey A Brown Invitational

The Quaker men had seven top 6 finishes at the Welsey A Brown Invitational on Saturday: Brent Jules (60m – 7.12, 4th), Ikechi Nnamani (HJ – 6-4.25, 4th), Efayomi Carr (TJ – 44-1.5, 4th), Colin Donnelly (200m – 22.70, 6th), Jacob Brenza (SP – 46-10.75, 4th), the 4×400 relay (5th), and distance medley relay (4th).  Assistant coach Tuan Wreh won the triple jump with a distance of 49-11.

The Quaker women dominated the sprinting events at the Navy Fieldhouse, where they not only won the 60m, 60m hurdles, and 200m sprints, they also claimed 10 positions in the top 6 spots across the three events.  Nony Onyeador won the 60m dash (7.89) and placed 3rd in the 200m (26.25).  Amber Scott won the hurdles (9.28) and placed 6th in the 200m (26.82).  Heather Bong won the 200m and placed 2nd in the dash (7.97).

Dartmouth, Yale, Cornell, and Columbia  have set the standard for this weekend,  setting outstanding conference and nationally-ranked marks in both New York and Boston last night.

BU Terrier Invite:

Abbey D’Agostino of Dartmouth improved her mile time, winning the mile in 4:37.41 at the BU Terrier Classic over Emily Sisson of Providence and Lauren Penney of Syracuse (half mile in 2:19, 3/4 mile in 3:30).  D’Agostino led the top three to finish in under 4:40, which can be seen in the Flotrack video here.  Dartmouth’s Christina Supino (see image) finished 6th in 4:47.60, holding off BU’s Monica Alder.

Cornell’s Katie Kellner placed 3rd in the 5000m in 16:11.38, a time which is not only #2 in the Cornell recordbooks, but also the 2nd fastest 5000m time in the nation as of this morning.  The race was won by Katie Matthews of host BU in 15:52.80 (#1 nationally) as unattached runner Corey Conner came 2nd in 16:02.38.  Princeton’s Alex Banfich came 8th in 16:33.17 and Cornell’s Genna Hartung came 9th in 16:38.32.   Race video found here.

Emmaline Berg of Dartmouth won the shot put by less than 5 inches, winning over Sacred Heart’s Lindsey Aponte (49-9 to 46-4.25).

Other top finishers include:

• Dartmouth’s Alexi Pappas in the 3k (4th – 9:14.75), and Supino, Isabella Terhorst,  Naomi Stahl, and Megan Krumpoch in the 4×400 relay (5th – 3:54.01)
• Yale’s Alexa Monti in the 60m (2nd – 7.78), Annelies Gamble in the 800m (4th -2:10.98, top collegian), Nihal Kayali in the 1000m (2nd – 2:49.67), Emily Urciuoli in the pole vault (6th – 11-1), and Allison Rue, Monti, Jenna Poggi, and Emily Cable in the 4×400 relay (4th – 3:53.95)

Other videos and interviews from the Terrier Invite can be found at Flotrack’s event page.

Metropolitan Indoor Championships:

The Columbia women’s team won their first Metropolitan Indoor Championships last night, winning seven events during the event.  Rookie Waverly Neer won both an individual and relay title, claiming the 1000m (2:52.52) and 4×800 relay (9:14.39) crowns.  Madeline Rathburn, Sophia Harrington, and Mallory Anderson were also on the winning relay team.  The other event wins for the evening were in the mile (Emily Lanois – 4:52.47), 3000m (Aryn Foland – 10:00.99), hurdles (Kyra Caldwell – 8.64), high jump (Monique Roberts – 5-9.25), and triple jump (Nadia Eke – 41-3.25).

More Ivy action will go on today across the region.

Alex Banfich (Princeton) is set to challenge Katie Kellner (Cornell) at the BU Terrier 5k. Perhaps a repeat of this scene (minus the snow)?

FloTrack likes to do “weekly throwdowns” before every weekend to highlight any interesting meet match-ups scheduled for the upcoming weekend.  This weekend, FloTrack listed a number of “hot races” that will have Ivy talent included in them*.  See FloTrack’s hot races below.

*Based on the accepted entries listing.

Boston University Terrier Invite:  (FloTrack coverage)

Men’s 3000 - Lenny Korir (Iona), Erik Van Ingen (Binghampton), Kyle Merber (Columbia), Matt Bayley (Iona), Ben Lindsay (Iona), Mitch Goose (Iona), Dan Lowry (Brown)

Women’s MILE - Stephanie Reilly, (NB), Nicole Schappert (NYAC), Lauren Penney (Syracuse), Abbey D’Agostino (Dartmouth), Emily Sisson (Providence), Jillian King (Boston College), Lindsay Crevoiserat (UConn), Katie Hursey (Syracuse)

Women’s 5000 – Alex Banfich (Princeton), Katie Matthews (Boston U), Corey Conner (Unat), Katie Kellner (Cornell), Hollie Rowland (Iona), Genna Hartung (Cornell)

US Open:

Men’s Shot Put – Christian Cantwell (USA), Adam Nelson (USA), Ryan Whiting (USA), Cory Martin (USA)

Women’s MILE – Anna Pierce (USA), Stephanie Garcia (USA), Lauren Hagans (USA), Brenda Martinez (USA)

Conference action this weekend:

Fri., Jan. 27
Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard & Yale at the Terrier Classic (BU Track Center: Boston, Mass.)
Cornell, Harvard & Penn at the National Invitational (Ashenfelter Track: University Park, Pa.)
Brown at the Reebok Indoor Games (Reggie Lewis Center: Boston, Mass.)

Sat., Jan. 28
Columbia, Cornell, Harvard & Princeton at NYRR Saturday Night at the Races (The Armory: New York, N.Y.)
Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard & Yale at the Terrier Classic (BU Track Center: Boston, Mass.)
Cornell, Dartmouth & Penn at the National Invitational (Ashenfelter Track: University Park, Pa.)
Cornell at the Great One (Spire Institute: Geneva, Ohio)
Harvard at Saturday at Bowdoin (William Farley Fieldhouse: Brunswick, Maine)
Penn at the Wesley Brown Invitational (Wesley Brown Fieldhouse: Annapolis, Md.)

 As now, some updates on some of our Ivy graduates:

• Liam Boylan-Pelt ran sub-4 minutes on Saturday at the New Balance Games at the NYC Armory.  For most of the race, he had high schooler Edward Cheserek drafting off him.  Boylan-Pelt was able to out-kick Cheserek, finishing 5th overall in 3:59.40.  Cheserek just missed the 4 minute mark, finishing in 7th with 4:02.21.  Andy Baddeley of Great Britian won the mile in 3:57.22.  A video of the mile race can  be found at the ArmoryTrack website.
• Ashley Higginson ran well in the Elite Women’s mile at the New Balance Games.  She finished 7th in 4:43.01 (her college best in the mile was 4:45.25 from 2011).  Brenda Martinez of the USA won in 4:39.37.
• Tom Wolf, a former high jumper for Harvard, is now jumping into the literary world.  In April 2012, he will be releasing his first novel, “Sound: A Novel”, which is about a man who dropped out of graduate school to return to his home on the Jersey Shore and finds out home is not what he remembers it to be.  Pre-Orders are available on Amazon.  Wolf was interviewed for the Farrar, Straus, and Giroux literary blog, where he discussed how music, location, and changing environments inspired how his novel was completed.
• Anna Pierce is looking to start her indoor season strong on Saturday at the US Open after a year of rebuilding her immune system (her body wasn’t properly absorbing nutrients after she finished recovering from a parasite in 2008).  Her winter plans include challenging the American 1000m record with teammate Morgan Uceny at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston in February.

It’s been a very busy weekend in HepsNation, with a few Ivy head-to-heads that suggests how Indoor Heps may play out in 5 weeks.  (Aside: if you’re planning on traveling to Ithaca at the end of February, let us know by signing up at the Facebook Event page)

We’ll do the recap by meet, as there is plenty of overlap.

Ivy action began on Friday night in New York City, as Penn and a Columbia representative competed at the Great Dane Classic.  The Quaker women came 9th out of 25 teams at the Great Dane Classic.  Victoria Strickland was the highest placed finisher for the Quaker women, placing 2nd in the 800 with 2:11.45.  Gabrielle Piper made the finals in both the 60m dash and hurdles, placing 8th (7.73) in the dash and 6th (8.75) in the hurdles.  Lydia Ali placed 4th in the 400 with 57.23 and helped the 4×400 relay place 3rd in 3:50.44.  The other relay members were Leah Brown, Paige Madison, and Renee McDougall.  For the men, Maalik Reynolds tied his indoor best of 7-3 while winning the high jump.  Reynolds attempted to set a new personal best at 7-4 but just missed clearing the bar.  Teammate Ikechi Nnamani placed 5th in the high jump by clearing 6-7.  The DMR team with Michael Cunningham, Brian Fulton, Michael Brown, and Matt Chylak placed 5th with 10:19.21.  Cunningham also placed 7th in the mile with 4:13.25.  Columbia had a single representative compete at the Great Dane Classic.  Kyle Merber set a new personal best that won the 1000m (2:22.52).  That 1000m time bested the meet record that was set by Penn alum Tim Kaijala in 2008 and currently ranks Merber second in the nation.

The greatest amount of Ivy head-to-head action occurred in Hanover, NH as both Dartmouth teams won their annual tri-meet with Columbia (2nd) and Yale (3rd).

For Dartmouth, Abbey D’Agostino (see image) made a great 2012 debut with her dominant win in the mile.  Her time of 4:38.44 is not only an NCAA automatic qualifier (when converted to banked 200m timing, it is #1 in the nation), but it is also a new school record.  A spectator shared on Letsrun.com that the splits were 67-2:21-3:34-4:38.  D’Agostino’s fast pace in the mile helped her teammates Alexi Pappas place second with a 4:44.56 (8th nationally when converted to banked 200m timing) and Katelyn Walker place 3rd in 5:03.74.  The Big Green women also won the 400m (Megan Krumpoch), 500m (Meggie Donovan), 800m (Arianna Vailas), 1000m (Christina Supino), 3000m (Katie Sullivan), and 4×800 relay (with Caroline Buck, D’Agostino, Vailas, and Walker).  For the Big Green men, the sprinters, hurdlers, and high jumpers led the charge as they took top spots in those respective events.  Grant Spalding and Sam Yoder went 1-2 in the hurdles with 8.66 and 8.76 respectively; meanwhile, Connor Reilly, Tyrone DeSpenza, and Brett Buskey went 1-2-3 in the dash (7.00-7.06-7.09).  Yoder came back in the afternoon to win the high jump in 6-5.5, while teammate Jeremy Birck (6-2.25) and Ben Nollet (6-0.5) came 2nd and 3rd respectively. Dom Filiano won the shot put for third meet in row with a heave of 49-6.5.

Conference event rankings are listed at the Track and Field Results Reporting System and are updated as meet results are posted.

It looks like a busy weekend for HepsNation, including the annual Dartmouth-Columbia-Yale tri-meet on 1/21 in Hanover, NH.   Some Ivy alumni are beginning their indoor season this weekend in either Germany or New York City.  The weekend schedule is listed below:

Cornell hosting a Multi I Meet on 1/20 and Upstate Challenge on 1/21

Dartmouth hosting tri-meet with Columbia and Yale on 1/21

Harvard hosting the Harvard Challenge on 1/21, with Brown and Dartmouth multi-eventers

Penn at the Great Dane Classic at the NYC Armory on 1/20

Alumni:

• New Balance Games at the NYC Armory – 1/21

Ashley Higginson and Jesse Carlin will go head-to-head in the Elite Women Mile, while Liam Boylan-Pett will be joining some other sub-4 min/mile company in the Elite Men Mile.  The question is will these elite men lead high school distance phenom Edward Cheserek under the 4 minute barrier with them?  ArmoryTrack.com will be hosting a webcast from 12:55 to 2:55 on Saturday 1/21, which will include the Elite Men Mile at 1:40pm and Elite Women Mile at 2:45pm.

• 12th International Energy Indoor Shot Put in Nordhausen, Germany – 1/20

Adam Nelson will be going against Olympian Champions (Poland’s Tomasz Majewski) and World Champions (Germany’s David Strohl and Americans Christian Cantwell and Resse Hoffa) at this marquee event.  Cantwell is the four-time meeting champion of this gathering.  Expect a intense competition as these men’s 2011 bests are all within a meter of each other.

A lot has changed in how the mile is raced on a collegiate level.  Last year, twenty-two athletes broke the 4 minute/mile barrier during the indoor track season (another 12 runners were within 1 second of breaking that barrier).  Only sixteen of those twenty-two were allowed to run at indoor nationals as a) they had bested the automatic qualifer time of 3:59.00 and b) there were only 16 slots available.  For the 2011-2012 season, the mile automatic qualifying standard has been lowered to 3:57.90 (note: adjustments will be made to the time based on altitude and type of track the time was recorded on).

Back in 2010, Columbia’s Kyle Merber was able to qualify for indoor nationals with his 3:58.52.  Now, he isn’t so sure that 3:58 would be good enough to qualify this year.  Knowing this and that this is his senior year, Merber has been working on his speed work.  He told FloTrack last week when he popped in their Texas HQ that he feels like he has regained and exceeded his fitness level from his sophomore year (he wasn’t able to compete his junior year due to complications from stepping on glass the summer before).

Video link: Kyle Merber Millrose and Oklahoma Transfers

It is likely that Merber will be chasing after the qualifying standard on February 11th, where he will be running in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games.  Merber is one of five college milers confirmed to compete against pro Matthew Centrowitz (ArmoryTrack.com will continue to release competitors as the race approaches).  Merber has already tasted Millrose Games success as he won the high school mile invitational back in 2008 in 4:13.86 (he rocked the headband back then too, click on the image for the DyeStat race recap).