Records Fall on Day One at Heps for Women’s Track & Field

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Records Fall on Day One at Heps for Women’s Track & Field

February 29, 2020 | Women's Track and Field

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Princeton University women's track & field team had a stellar opening day at the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships as it set a pair of new school records and currently sits in second-place.

The Tigers ended the day with 36 points, narrowly trailing Cornell University who has 37.5 points. Harvard University sits in third with 21 points. Two statistics told the story for the Tigers on day one; firstly they advanced at least one athlete in every preliminary event and secondly they scored in five out of the six finals contested.

"We are in the best position we could hope for going into the second day," said head coach Michelle Eisenreich. "From the start of training this fall up until this point, our women have attacked each day with intensity with the mission to prove we are one of the top teams in the ivy league. Today the competed with that same intensity. Their commitment to each other as well as their intensity desire will make tomorrow especially exciting"

Olivia Hee will enter tomorrow's final in the 60 after she set a new school record and finished with the second-fastest prelim time of 7.50, topping her previous PR of 7.61 and Christina's Walter previous record of 7.56 from 2018.

Isabella Hilditch earned a spot in tomorrow's 60 hurdles final where she enters as the No. 5 seed after clocking in at 8.50 in the prelim. Her time was a PR, besting her previous PR of 8.53, and a new school record as it bested Ellie Randolph's previous record of 8.51 from 2019.

Heide Baron also advanced to the final in the 400 meters after she clocked in at 56.84, the seventh-fastest prelim time.

Princeton will also send a pair to the final in the 500; Milana Malec had the second-best prelim time of 1:14.80, a PR that topped her previous personal-best of 1:14.99. Charlotte O'Toole had the fourth-best prelim time of 1:15.39.

The Tigers claimed two of the top-five spots in the 1,000 as Maggie Hock clocked in at 2:52.34 seconds to finish fourth and Madeleine Sumner fifth in 2:52.59.

Sophie Cantine finished with the third-fastest prelim time in the 3,000 of 9:33.51, her highest-ever finish at Heps, and Peyton Brown had the tenth-fastest time of 9:58.94.

Princeton will also send two women to tomorrow night's 200 final; Katie DiFrancesco finished fifth in prelims with a time of 24.85 and Hildtich eighth in 25.02.

The pole vault proved to be an extremely strong event for the Tigers as Alexandra Munson finished second after clearing 4.00 meters for the first time, shattering her previous PR of 3.85 meters. After overcoming a back injury to finish second last spring, Munson would re-set her PR three times on route to her second-place finish. Her mark was the fourth-highest in Princeton indoor history. Hanne Borstlap also finished third with a mark of 3.90 meters.She started the week unsure if she would be able to vault at all after sustaining a foot injury the weekend before. She and her coach agreed she would have three attempts to clear 3.90 meters before she shut it down. On her third  attempt she indeed cleared the height to secure third-place.

The weight throw was also an outstanding event for Princeton; Luisa Chantler Edmond finished second with a throw of 18.74 meters, the fourth-best mark in school history.  She also shattered her previous PR of 18.14 meters. Annika Kelly also finished fifth thanks to her mark of 17.14 meters

Lindsey Schmidt earned a third-place finish in the pentathlon as she earned a total of 3506 points, nearly a 200 point PR. She won the high jump after clearing 1.70 meters, besting previous PR of 1.69 meters. Schmidt finished third in the long jump with a leap of 5.29 meters, topping her previous PR of 5.21 meters and  finished fifth in the shot put after a throw of 9.95 meters. She also finished eighth in the 60 hurdles with a time of 9.35, tying her PR, and tenth in the 800 with a time of 2:33.68.

Up Next
Princeton resumes its second day at Heps tomorrow at 11 a.m.