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Princeton Men Jump to Big Early Lead at Ivy League Heptagonals
February 24, 2007 | Men's Track and Field
Behind the record-setting pole vault performance of senior Andrew Park and second weight throw title in as many years from sophomore Alex Pessala, the Princeton men's track team jumped to a big early lead after the first day of the 2007 Ivy League Heptagonals Saturday at the New Balance Track & Field Center.
Princeton's 55 points are 32 better than second-place Cornell's 23, with Penn in third place with 16 after the first day of competition.
Park bested a 14-year-old meet record with his pole vault of 17 feet, one inch. The record had previously been held by Penn's Mamadou Johnson, who had a leap of 17 feet, 3/4 inch in 1993. The Princeton senior had cleared 17 feet, 1/2 inch last week at the Princeton Invitational before beating that mark by another half inch Saturday to win the event at Heps.
Pessala, the winner of the weight throw at Indoor Heps as a freshman, did it again Saturday to give the Tigers another event win. Pessala's toss of 59 feet, 10 1/4 inches was about a foot better than the throw of Cornell's Erik Roneker. Pessala will have two more tries the next two seasons to equal former Tiger Josh McCaughey's four wins in the indoor event.
Not to be outdone, the Tigers showed their class in the distance races when David Nightingale and Michael Maag finished 1-2 in the 3,000 meters to give Princeton 18 points in that event. Nightingale ran the 15 laps in 8:09.80, just better than Maag's 8:12.25, to win a Heps championship for the second straight year.
In the heptathlon, Tiger sophomore standout Duane Hynes is in a tight competition with Penn's Kyle Calvo after the first day of the two-day event. Hynes has 3,036 points after the first four events, just 54 behind Calvo.
Hynes also gave Princeton six points in the long jump with a third-place leap of 23 feet, 8 1/4 inches.
Check back later at GoPrincetonTigers.com for more on the 2007 Ivy League Heptagonals.