Tigers Dominate #IvyHeps and Win by Widest Margin of Victory Ever

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Dartmouth, N.H.

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Princeton University

Ivy League Heps

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Tigers Dominate #IvyHeps and Win by Widest Margin of Victory Ever

February 25, 2018 | Men's Track and Field

Results

Team Scores: 1) Princeton 169 2) Penn 102, 3) Brown 85, 4) Dartmouth 71, 5) Cornell 58, 6) Harvard 52, 7) Yale 46, 8) Columbia 38.

HANOVER, N.H. (2/25/18) - The Princeton men's track & field team put up a dominating performance to win its fourth consecutive indoor Ivy League Heptagonal Championship and 21st overall indoor title. It was the largest margin of victory ever in an indoor Ivy Heps, as the Tigers had a 68-point edge over second place Penn.

This is the first time Cornell has not finished in the top two since 2003, while Princeton's streak of winning or taking second is extended to 25 years.

The Tigers held a 30-point lead after the first time and expanded the lead as they begin Day 2 with four straight wins.

"I thought if we hit it right we'd have a big lead," William M. Weaver Jr. '34 Head Coach of Men's Track & Field Fred Samara said. "Going into the meet you can only hope the guys on the team focus and compete – and they did. I'm very, very proud of the entire 33-man team. Everyone contributed in some way. We have a lot of superstars on this team, it's really special. But it's the commitment to the team and their heart that sets this team apart from my other championship teams."

With Ivy titles in both cross country and now indoor track & field, Princeton has set itself up perfectly for outdoor season, in hopes of securing the program's eighth triple crown.

Junior Adam Kelly delivered in the first field event of the day, winning the weight thro after finishing up as the runner-up the last two years to Olympian Rudy Winkler. Kelly who was an All-America in this event a year ago. Three of his five throws were over 20 meters with his best being his final throw of 21.52 (70-7.25). Senior Mitchel Charles, who won the shot put yesterday took third with a throw of 19.50 (63-11.75) and held the third place standing throughout the competition as Princeton took 16 points.

In the first track event of the day, Princeton wowed with a 1-2 finish in the mile. Senior Garrett O'Toole edged senior Noah Kauppila for the win 4:10.32 to 4:10.84. O'Toole has been the runner-up in this event twice, while it is Kauppila's first time in the mile. He has scored in three straight 1,000s taking fourth, first and second from his freshmen to junior years.

Sophomore Joey Daniels ran an Ivy League meet record, a Princeton record and a personal best to win the 60-meter hurdles with a fiery 7.81. Daniels was a scorer in this meet last year and was the outdoor 110-meter hurdles champion. Daniels was named the co-Most Outstanding Track Performer of the Meet.

Senior Josh Freeman gave the Tigers a perfect four-for-four start on Day 2 with a win in the 400. He clocked a 48.34 to win his first individual Heps title. He was the runner-up in this event outdoors and has scored twice the last two winters.

Senior Josh Ingalls added two points with a fifth-place finish in the 500. He ran a tactical 500 sitting behind before making his move to pass the other two runners in front of him but couldn't catch Penn's Jeff Wiseman at the finish 1:03.58 to 1:03.86.

In the 60, senior Carrington Akosa won his second consecutive title with a 6.76. He has was the runner-up in both 2016 and 2015 and won last year with a 6.77. Three events later he finished as the runner-up in the 200 at 21.51. Akosa won this event in 2015 and 2016 but was unable to compete last year despite qualifying.

In the high jump, freshman Jeff Hollis got the crowed at Leverone Fieldhouse going wild in a fight for the title. Entering the meet with the fourth best mark Hollis cleared a PR of 2.14 (7-00.25) to move into fifth place all-time at Princeton. Junior Andrew Diehl scored with a 2.04 (6-8.25) to take sixth place.

Freshman Sam Ellis added to the team's total scoring in his first Heps. He was fourth in the 800 at 1:53.53.

Both senior Lane Russell and junior Stefan Amokwandoh picked up points in the triple jump. Russell took third place with a jump of 15.52 (50-11) on his third attempt. Three of his six jumps were beyond 15 meters. Amokwadoh landed a 15.04 (49-4.25) on his final attempt to take sixth place.

Princeton had five in the final individual track event, the 5,000. The Tigers ran the first few laps utterly dominating as the top four. Sophomore Conor Lundy took over the lead in the middle of the race before senior Rob Stone pushed up into the lead. It was a race to the finish between Stone and Columbia's Kenny Vasbinder with Vasbinder edging Stone 14:25.49 to 14:25.57. The Tigers then went 5-6-7 with sophomore Gannon Willcuts, who ran in yesterday's 3,000 as well, fifth at 14:28.26, sophomore Viraj Deokar sixth at 14:31.26 and Lundy seventh at 14:31.68.

Senior August Kiles, who won his third consecutive pole vault title yesterday, earned another point today as the Tiger lone representative in the htpathlon. Kiles accumulated 4,506 points to take sixth in his first time competing in the multis at any Ivy Heps. Not surprisingly he earned the most points in the pole vault with a 5.08. He was fourth in the hurdles at 8.61, fifth in the 60 (7.28), sixth in the 1000 (3:04.88) to highlight his two days of multis.

Adding an exclamation point to Princeton's win was during the distance medley relay when on the final leg, the 1600, as senior William Paulson lapped Cornell's anchor. The Tigers ran a meet record of 9:43.86 to win the race. The second-place relay, Brown, was nearly seven seconds back. O'Toole started the relay off incredibly strong and Freeman and Kauppila extended Princeton's lead before the final hand off to Paulson, who ran the race all alone. (split times were not available)

Princeton's 4x800 of Zach Albright, Perrin Hagge, Ingalls and Ellis earned an additional point with a sixth-place finish at 7:42.33. The 4x400 of Cole Bransford, Gab Montefalcone, Justice Dixon and Connor Matthews grabbed two final points with a fifth place run of 3:17.33.