Princeton University Athletics
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McCullough Sets Heps Record as Men's Track Takes the Lead After Day 1
February 26, 2012 | Men's Track and Field
ITHACA, N.Y. (2/25/12) - The Princeton men's track & field team is in first place after day one of the 2012 Ivy League Heptagonal Championship. The day was highlighted by a spectacular performance by sophomore Conor McCullough in the weight throw.
McCullough set a Heps meet record with an NCAA automatic qualifying throw of 22.94 meters (75-3.25). He helped to retain the weight throw crown for Old Nassau, as Princeton has won the last four crowns in the weight (Craig Pearce in 2011 & 2010 and Alex Pessala in 2009).
In the standings, Princeton has a 12-point lead on host Cornell, who is in second with 37 points. Harvard is in third with 20, followed by Dartmouth with 10, Yale with five, Brown with two, Columbia with one and Penn is scoreless.
Princeton earned big points in the pole vault, 17 total, as the Tigers went 2-3-4. Senior Dave Slovenski was the runner-up clearing 5.20 (17-00.75). Senior Derek Hynes was third at 4.90 (16-00.75) and freshman Adam Bragg was fourth at 4.80 (15-9).
Senior Joe Stilin was the runner-up in the 3,000 with a tight race between the top three runners. Stilin clocked in at 8:11.42, just 0.12 seconds out of first place. Senior Donn Cabral finished third at 8:11.69. The pair would contribute 14 points to its team total.
The Tigers got eight points in the long jump with sophomore Tom Hopkins taking third and sophomore Damon McLean finishing fifth. Hopkins jumped to 7.19 (23-7.25) on his second attempt, while McLean reached 7.13 (23-4.75) on his first try at the pit.
Thirteen Tigers qualified for the finals of their respective events.
Hopkins qualified for the finals of the 400 and the 60-meter hurdles. Running the 400 finals with Hopkins is senior Ricky Kearney. Junior Richard Sheldon and freshman Rob Mohr both qualified in the hurdles as well.
Junior Russell Dinkins will run in the 500 after running 1:03.50 in the preliminary race. He was the only runner in the prelims to clock in under 1:04.
Junior Peter Callahan and sophomore Michael Williams will run in the finals of the 800.
Senior Trevor Van Ackeren qualified for the finals of both the mile and the 1,000. He'll be joined by Stilin in the finals of the mile tomorrow. Freshman Bradley Patersnostro and junior Michael Palmisano will join him in the 1,000 as Princeton makes up three of the final eight.
Day 2 begins at 11 a.m., with the continuation of the men's heptathlon.