Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Larry Ellis Invitational
Players Mentioned
Women's Track & Field Posts Four Wins on Day 2 of Larry Ellis Invite
April 24, 2011 | Women's Track and Field
PRINCETON, N.J. (4/23/11) - Princeton won four events on the final day of the Larry Ellis Memorial Invitational, on Saturday, April 23. Posting victories were: Thanithia Billings (shot put), Emma Ruggiero (hammer throw), Tory Worthen (pole vault) and Greta Feldman (800).
With over 35 teams competing it was a busy day at Weaver Stadium. There were some showers in the early afternoon but things cleared up a couple hours into the meet. However, the pole vault and high jump were moved indoors.
Billings won the shot put throwing to 14.44 meters (47-4.50) on her third throw of the day. Ruggiero took top honors in the hammer throw with a mark of 57.51 (188-08). Freshman Chelsea Cioffi recorded a PR in the event with a throw of 43.05 (141-03). She also finished ninth in the discus throwing to 39.50 (129-07), a season best.
Princeton had four pole vaulters in the top 10, led by sophomore Tory Worthen who won the event. Worthen cleared 4.01 (13-1.75), her best mark of the season. Freshman Samantha Anderson was third at 3.80 (12-5.50), sophomore Lauren Tauscher was fifth at 3.70 (12-1.50) and junior Bianca Reo was ninth at 3.50 (11-5.75).
Freshman Imani Oliver earned a third-place finish in the triple jump. She reached 11.65 meters (38-2.75) on her second jump of the afternoon. Senior Bianca Williams was eighth with a mark of 11.44 (37-6.50). In the long jump, senior Tiffany Liu reached 5.23 (17-2) on her first try to finish 10th overall.
In the 100-meter hurdles, senior Bianca Mathabane took fifth place. She clocked in with a season-bet time of 14.58, while fellow senior Lauren Barber finished at 14.99 for 13th in an event of 54 hurdlers. In the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, Joie Hand was ninth overall at 102.76 out of 43.
The 4x100 relay of Erin Guty, Lily Miller, Eileen Moran, Abidemi Adenikinju placed second out of 16 teams at 47.04, the relays best time of the season.
Moran ran 12.44 in her first time running the 100 this outdoor season to finish in sixth place. Adenikinju posted season-best times in both the 100 and 200. She ran 12.59 in the 100 and 25.75 in the 200. Miller had the best time in the 200 at 25.35.
In the 400, freshman Carrie Vuong and Melissa Zajdel posted the top times for the Tigers at 57.79 and 58.39, respectively.
Feldman won the 800, an event that had 64 entrants, as she recorded a new PR of 2:10.68. Freshman Molly Higgins was sixth at 2:13.35, freshman Kacie O'Neil was seventh at 2:14.28 and sophomore Alexis Mikaelian was eighth at 2:14.28. Junior Michelle Yousefian won her section, and placed 15th overall at 2:18.08.
Next up for Princeton is the Penn Relays, being held at Franklin Field, on April 28-30.
DAY 1 RECAP
Day one of Princeton track & field's Larry Ellis Memorial Invitational is complete with one meet record falling on the women's side.
Boston University's Katie Matthew ran 16:01.16 in the 5,000, a new meet record. Her time is nearly 23 seconds faster than the previous held by Melissa Grelli of Georgetown set in 2007 of 16:24.02.
Just behind Matthew was a familiar face. Reilly Kiernan '10 who was running as a member of the NYAC. Kiernan finished in 16:10.42, more than 11 seconds faster than her best 5k time while wearing the orange P. She ran 16:21.94 during the 2009-10 season at the Notre Dame Invite. In the same event, freshman Marissa Cummings set a new PR running 17:32.75 to take 25th in a race of 88 competitors.
Sophomore Greta Feldman and freshman Clare Gallagher also ran PR's as the top Tigers in their respective events. In the 1500, Feldman finished in fourth place out of 69 competitors clocking in at 4:22.08. Gallagher finished the steeplechase at 10:50.61 besting her previous time of 11:08.39 and placing 13th out of 36.
The top finisher for the Orange and Black in the 800 was freshman Kristin Smoot. She finished in sixth place in section 2 crossing the line at 2:11.14, which placed her 18th overall in a race of 74.
Day two begins at noon tomorrow, Saturday, April 23 at Weaver Stadium.