Tigers Put Up Impressive Numbers at Great Dane Classic

Saturday, January 13

Ocean Breeze (Staten Island)

All Day

Princeton University

Great Dane Classic

Ratcliffe & Curham Win to Put Princeton in Lead on Day 1 of Heps

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Tigers Put Up Impressive Numbers at Great Dane Classic

January 13, 2018 | Women's Track and Field

Results

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (1/13/18) - The Princeton women's track & field team traveled to Staten Island to compete at the Great Dane Classic at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.

"We had a lot of strong performances across the board and we're in good shape for where we need to be this time of year," head coach Michelle Eisenreich said. "The biggest highlight was Megan Curham winning and setting a meet record in the 5k. Kennedy O'Dell was really solid in the throws and Obiageri Amaechi had a nice throw as well. The Triple jumpers were solid, and Katie DiFrancisco ran a great race in the 200. We had a couple more PRs in the 400 from Devon Block-Funkhouser and Carly Bonnet. Anna Jurew ran her first 1k and showed she'd be a factor in that race at Heps as well. Overall we're really pleased with how everyone is developing and looking forward to two weeks to train for HYP."

Last year, the women's track team went out and won the meet. Similar to the 2017 meet, the long and middle distance runners had some very strong performances. Senior Melissa Reed snagged a personal record in the mile with a time of 5:04.15. She had some incredible competition, including professional Ajee Wilson - the current 800m American record holder, and still managed a seventh-place performance. Junior Marie-Fee Breyer also competed in this race, placing 19th with a 5:16.60 finish time.

Senior Megan Curham placed first in the 5000 in a landslide victory. She finished the race at 16:32.27, a full 30 seconds in front second place runner Natalia LaSpada from Johns Hopkins.

In the 1000 race, Princeton had four of the top seven finishers. Junior Anna Jurew lead the Tiger pack with a third place finish at 2:52.00. She was followed by sophomore Madeleine
Sumner at 2:52.21 in fourth, freshman Sophie Cantine at 2:52.45 in fifth and senior Delaney Miller at 2:54.85 in seventh.

Junior Jackie Berardo also beat her personal best in the 500 with a 1:15.13 finish in fourth place. Fellow Junior Allison Glossinger clocked in at 2:16.66 in the 800 race to get second.

In the 3000, freshman Peyton Brown ran 9:59.16 for fifth place. Junior Laura Hergenrother placed ninth with a time of 10:06.02 and classmate Mim Buscher ran her first 3000 collegiate debut, coming in 11th with a time of 10:07.14.

In the 60m hurdle invite, sophomore Maia Craver placed 14th with an 8.92 finish. Junior teammate Frances Lodge was the runner up in the open 60 hurdles, clocking in at 9.32. In the other springing races, freshman Katie DiFrancesco placed seventh in the 200 dash with a 24.89 split and senior Christina Walter placed 11th with a time of 25.24.

The team's seniors were quite successful in the meet's field events. Brittany Henderson matched her personal best in the pole vault, clearing 3.45 (10-10) and finishing in a five-way tie for fourth place. Classmate Kennedy O'Dell came in second in the weight throw with a throw of 18.39 (60-4). O'Dell also cleared 13.92 (45-8) in the shot put for third place. Directly following her was freshman Obiageri Amaechi in fourth with a 13.88 (45-6.50) throw.

Junior Kerri Davidson placed fifth in the triple jump, clearing 11.86 (38-11). Right behind her was freshman Katie Barnett with a 11.79 (38-8.25) jump. Freshman Kara Steele placed 12th for the Tigers in this event.

To end the meet, the women's 4x4 squad placed eighth with a time of 4:00.47. The team included junior Carly Bonnet, junior Mikaela Sawyer, freshman Samantha Anderson an sophomore Ashley Willingham.

The Tigers will be back in action at the annual HYP meet in Boston on Sunday, Jan. 28.