Princeton University Athletics
Ratcliffe '17 & Andrews to Compete at IAAF World Championships
July 31, 2017 | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Julia Ratcliffe '17 has been selected to the compete at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, it was announced by Team New Zealand.
Ratcliffe will compete on August 5 in London in the qualification group stage. The final is slated for August 7.
Two weeks ago, Ratcliffe threw the second best throw of her career, when she ripped out a 70.35m at a meet on the Princeton campus. The throw is just 0.40m shy of her personal best of 70.75. Though the mark is just below the B standard of 71.00 meters she received an invitation to compete based on the roll-down system designed, which also occurred prior to the 2016 Olympics, to have 32 competitors in each throwing event at the championships. Ratcliffe has continued to train in Princeton since returning from the NCAA Championships when she earned her third first-team All-America honor.
Ratcliffe leaves the University with a number of accolades and a number of firsts. She won Princeton's first national championship in track & field in 2014 as a sophomore and is the first Tiger to compete in the same event at the NCAA Championships four times. She was 11th as a freshman, second as a junior and sixth as a senior. Ratcliffe is also the first thrower in the Ivy League to win four hammer throw titles, while also tacking on two weight throw titles indoors. Ratcliffe demolished the Ivy League record books with the best 134 throws in history of the league. She is also the only hammer thrower in the 123-year history of the Penn Relays to win the event four times. With an undefeated 2014 season, Ratcliffe was named a semifinalist for The Bowerman Trophy - another Princeton first. She was also named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year that year.
Ratcliffe holds the Princeton, Ivy League and New Zealand national records. She earned a bronze medal at the 2015 World University Games, a silver medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and was fourth at the 2012 World Junior Championship.
After taking a year off from Princeton during the 2016-17 season to try to qualify for the Olympics, Ratcliffe posted this on her social media after finding out she made the team, "This one goes out to all of the athletes that fell short of their goals this season. For every success story, there are countless athletes who don't make it, and these are the people from whom I draw inspiration when I'm struggling. They're the people that get back up after every setback and keep going regardless of the seemingly endless obstacles. You can't beat the person that never quits and I've been lucky enough to have a whole village of people to push me through when it all seems too hard and not worth it."
Joining Ratcliffe at the World Championship is Princeton men's track & field assistant coach Robby Andrews. Andrews stunned the nation a month ago when he won the USATF Championships, beating out Olympic gold medalist Matt Centrowitz with a 3:43.29 in the 1500. With his first senior national title in the 1500, Andrews still needed to ran the IAAF qualifying standard of 3:36.00 before July 12 to qualify for London. He did just that on July 7 at the TrackTown Summer Series with a 3:35.25. Andrews was controversially disqualified during the semifinals of the 2016 Olympics for stepping inside the rail during the straight away of his finishing kick.
Like Ratcliffe, Andrews has been training in Princeton with his coach Jason Vigilante, Princeton head cross country coach.
Andrews kick is what to watch as he takes on the 1500 in the heat stage on August 10. The semifinals are August 11 and the final is August 13.
The IAAF is currently set to be streamed on NBC Sports.
Ratcliffe will compete on August 5 in London in the qualification group stage. The final is slated for August 7.
Two weeks ago, Ratcliffe threw the second best throw of her career, when she ripped out a 70.35m at a meet on the Princeton campus. The throw is just 0.40m shy of her personal best of 70.75. Though the mark is just below the B standard of 71.00 meters she received an invitation to compete based on the roll-down system designed, which also occurred prior to the 2016 Olympics, to have 32 competitors in each throwing event at the championships. Ratcliffe has continued to train in Princeton since returning from the NCAA Championships when she earned her third first-team All-America honor.
Ratcliffe leaves the University with a number of accolades and a number of firsts. She won Princeton's first national championship in track & field in 2014 as a sophomore and is the first Tiger to compete in the same event at the NCAA Championships four times. She was 11th as a freshman, second as a junior and sixth as a senior. Ratcliffe is also the first thrower in the Ivy League to win four hammer throw titles, while also tacking on two weight throw titles indoors. Ratcliffe demolished the Ivy League record books with the best 134 throws in history of the league. She is also the only hammer thrower in the 123-year history of the Penn Relays to win the event four times. With an undefeated 2014 season, Ratcliffe was named a semifinalist for The Bowerman Trophy - another Princeton first. She was also named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year that year.
Ratcliffe holds the Princeton, Ivy League and New Zealand national records. She earned a bronze medal at the 2015 World University Games, a silver medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and was fourth at the 2012 World Junior Championship.
After taking a year off from Princeton during the 2016-17 season to try to qualify for the Olympics, Ratcliffe posted this on her social media after finding out she made the team, "This one goes out to all of the athletes that fell short of their goals this season. For every success story, there are countless athletes who don't make it, and these are the people from whom I draw inspiration when I'm struggling. They're the people that get back up after every setback and keep going regardless of the seemingly endless obstacles. You can't beat the person that never quits and I've been lucky enough to have a whole village of people to push me through when it all seems too hard and not worth it."
Joining Ratcliffe at the World Championship is Princeton men's track & field assistant coach Robby Andrews. Andrews stunned the nation a month ago when he won the USATF Championships, beating out Olympic gold medalist Matt Centrowitz with a 3:43.29 in the 1500. With his first senior national title in the 1500, Andrews still needed to ran the IAAF qualifying standard of 3:36.00 before July 12 to qualify for London. He did just that on July 7 at the TrackTown Summer Series with a 3:35.25. Andrews was controversially disqualified during the semifinals of the 2016 Olympics for stepping inside the rail during the straight away of his finishing kick.
Like Ratcliffe, Andrews has been training in Princeton with his coach Jason Vigilante, Princeton head cross country coach.
Andrews kick is what to watch as he takes on the 1500 in the heat stage on August 10. The semifinals are August 11 and the final is August 13.
The IAAF is currently set to be streamed on NBC Sports.
Players Mentioned
Throws
/ Women's Track and FieldTuesday, June 04
Tuesday, May 09
Wednesday, June 22
Monday, June 06