Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Track In Close Second After First Day At Ivy League Heptagonals
May 10, 2008 | Men's Track and Field
Thanks to a pair of champions and overall strength in the field events, the Princeton men's track team is a close second after six events and the first day of the Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Yale's Cuyler Field and Dwyer Track.
Princeton's 48 points trails only Cornell's 50 after the first day, and the hammer throw and shot put had a lot to do with the Tigers' success on Saturday.
In the shot put, sophomore Eric Plummer saved his best for last, delivering a huge mark of 59 feet, 11 inches on his final attempt of the day to earn a Heps title. That mark was more than four feet longer than the second-place throw on Saturday.
Not to be outdone, junior Alex Pessala won his fifth Heps title in six tries in the hammer/indoor weight with another huge toss of 197 feet. His teammate, freshman Craig Pearce, was second in the event with a mark of 191 feet, 10 inches, while freshman George Abyad scored points for the Tigers in the shot with a fifth-place toss of 52 feet, two inches.
Wind kept heights in the pole vault down on Saturday, but both Chad Faulkner and Will Byrd each cleared 15 feet, nine inches for Princeton and ended up in a three-way tie for second in the event based on misses.
Another freshman, Dion Lehman, continued a strong spring season with a fourth-place leap of 23 feet, 11 inches in the long jump. In the final event of the day on the track, the 10,000 meters, senior Justin Pines scored for Princeton with a fifth-place time of 30:34.47, an IC4A qualifying standard.
On the track, five Princeton athletes qualified for Sunday finals with top six finishes in Saturday preliminary heats. One Tiger, sprinter Shafiq Kashmiri, qualified in two events, as his 21.45 was the second-best time in the 200 and his 10.72 was the third-fastest time in the 100 meters. Matt Brock also will run in Sunday's 200-meter final after his 21.93 was the sixth-best time of the day.
In the 400 hurdles, Tom Zozokos will be in Sunday's final after his 53.49 was third-fastest on Saturday. 500-meter indoor champion Mike Eddy, a freshman, will partcipate in Sunday's 400-meter outdoor final after his 48.93 around one lap Saturday.
Senior James O'Toole will be Princeton's representative in the 1,500-meter final Sunday after running a 3:52.35 in the prelims Saturday.
Cornell and Princeton are well ahead of third-place Dartmouth, which has a score of 26 after the first day. Yale, Brown, Harvard and Penn trail the field.