Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Disney Invitational
Players Mentioned
Women's Track & Field Begins Outdoor Season in Florida
March 22, 2010 | Women's Track and Field
ORLANDO, Fla. (3/21/10) - The Princeton women's track and field team began the 2010 outdoor season in Florida during spring break. The squad competed at the Walt Disney World Invitational and at the National Training Center Throws and Jumps Challenge near Orlando, Fla.
The Tigers dominated the 10,000-meter run at the Disney Invitational, placing 1-7 out of the nine runners that competed. Leading the way was senior Alexa Glencer with a time of 38:02.77. Junior Reilly Kiernan was right behind at 38:02.94 and classmate Sarah Cummings was a second behind her at 38:03.27. Also finishing in 38:03 was junior Ashley Higginson and sophomore Alex Banfich. Freshmen Abby Hewitt and Mel Newbery both completed the run in 39:45.
Princeton's relay team of Abidemi Adenikinju, Erin Guty, Eileen Moran and Danielle Glaeser was second in the 4x100, clocking in at 46.92. A second relay was sixth at 51.02. In the 4x200 Princeton had the top two teams. Sarah Houtmann, Joie Hand, Adenikinju and Moran were first at 1:40.15, while Bianca Mathabane, Lauren Barber, Guty and Glaeser were a part of the second-place team that finished in 1:46.04.
Princeton entered two teams in the 4x1500 to compete against each other. Coming out on top was Libby Bliss, Brooke Russell, Alexis Mikaelian and Greta Feldman at 19:31.10.
In the first hammer throw competition of the season, junior Emma Ruggiero took top honors with a throw of 54.09 meters. Classmate Thanithia Billings was second reaching 51.55 meters, while sophomore Alyssa Pehmoeller was third with a throw of 38.98 meters.
On Saturday, Princeton competed at the National Training Center in a throws and jumps competition. Like the previous meet it was Ruggiero that took top honors in the hammer throw at 53.99 meters. Pehmoeller was second with a mark of 44.70 meters.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the pole vault with freshman Tory Worthen grabbing first place with a mark of 3.81 meters. Lydia Arias and Lauren Tauscher followed at 3.65 and 3.35 meters, respectively.
In addition, freshman Megan Skalbeck was second in the high jump at 1.60 meters.
This year's outdoor track and field season will be run a bit differently than in years past, in terms of qualifying for the post season.
The four-region system from the past seven years is no longer in place. This season there will be two "preliminary sites" for the national championship. Instead of focusing on a hard-line performance standard like in years past, there will be a field-size cut-off per event. The season will be a constant "scoreboard watch" as the top 48 in each region (west and east) will compete in the preliminary sites. Relays will be the top 24 per region.