Princeton University
Ivy League Championships
Women’s Track and Field Wins 2025 Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championship
March 02, 2025 | Women's Track and Field
ITHACA, N.Y. – In a full-team triumph, the Princeton women's track and field team won the 2025 Indoor Ivy League Heptagonal Championship, the program's first indoor title since 2011 and 10th all-time.
Incredibly, the Tigers scored in every event, a feat not achieved in recent program memory. The Tigers claimed first place with a score of 168, defeating second-place Harvard by eight points.
In total, Princeton boasted seven individual championships and one relay. Georgina Scoot was also named the Most Outstanding Field Performer after winning the triple jump and setting a new school record.
How It Happened
After a day full of wins on Saturday, highlighted by a gritty win in the pentathlon by Julia Jongejeugd and an illness-defying, championship-winning personal best by Angela McAuslan-Kelly in the weight throw, the Tigers entered the final day of Heps ready to attack each event and build on their momentum.
Winning would require a full-team effort, and while Princeton's prospects looked good with Tigers in each final, the team knew the margin of victory could come down to just a few points.
Mena Scatchard was first up in the mile, pacing herself in second through six laps before breaking away in the penultimate lap. Just like her 3000 win on Saturday, there was no catching her once she took control of the race, and she confidently ran through the line in 4:36.23, setting a new Barton Hall facility record and securing her second medal of the meet.
Meanwhile, across the oval, the Tigers were racking up points in the high jump. Madeleine Wood earned second in the event, jumping a height of 1.74m/5-8.5". Mirtel Klaar and Alysa Carrigan were behind her, each jumping 1.71m/5-7.25". Klaar, setting a new college best in the event, placed third while Carrigan took sixth. Combined, the three jumpers added 15 points to the team score.
In the 60 hurdles, Adelaide Asante began what would be a day of standout performances for the senior. Asante raced down the track, leaping over each hurdle and leaning across the finish to clock in at 8.41, setting a new school record and claiming third place in the process.
First-year Brooke Jackson was up next, hoping to channel some birthday luck into a strong 60m performance. Her wish was quickly granted, as she zoomed across the finish in just 7.47, just a hundredth of a second off from the Princeton record. It turns out that medals make great birthday presents, as Jackson proudly wore hers in the fourth position on the podium at her very first Ivy Heps.
Fellow freshman Jazmyn Singh followed in the 400, blazing across the track in just 55.12 to claim fourth place and four more points for Princeton at her first championship meet. Maisha Atkinson also ran a fast 1:12.37 in the 500, claiming silver in the event for eight more team points.
Moving into the middle-distance races, Peyton Leigh nabbed another team point in the 800 with a sixth place finish and a time of 2:09.87, before the Tigers would have one of their biggest wins of the day.
Hannah Riggins was up in the 1000m, looking to add to her successes this season that already included a new PR in the mile and a new school record in the 800, set just weeks ago.
The race began, and while Riggins remained out front with only Dartmouth's Bella Pietrasiewicz, she still found herself trailing when the bell rang for the final lap. Giving it her all, Riggins made her move with 100m left, and there was no stopping her.
As she ran through the line first, Riggins threw her arms up in celebration, not yet knowing that she broke the Barton Hall facility record, the Ivy Heps meet record, and the Princeton program record with her 2:40.86 time.
Taking three seconds off the record, she cleared the previous program best of 2:43.23, set by Scatchard at last year's indoor Heps at Harvard. She also improved five seconds from her previous PR of 2:45.54.
Although the wins were coming in, the team scores were still close as Harvard and Princeton battled for the top spot. The 200 was next, and it was a race that had high stakes for Princeton.
Asante was up again, and racing around the oval in 24.05, she would set her second PR of the day and a new school record in the event.
Her time broke the previous school record of 24.22, held since 1997 by Nicole Harrison '98.
Notably, though, Asante executed the largest potential point swing of the weekend. Through her effort, she earned six points for Princeton with her third place finish, improving on the Tigers' projected one. With Harvard only earning 13 instead of a projected 22 points, she turned a 21-point difference into one of just seven.
Decision time was drawing close with only a few events left - the 5k, the triple jump, the shot put, and the relays. And the Tigers knew each one would count.
Anna McNatt secured another four points in the 5k with her fourth-place finish of 16:31.91.
Over at the sand pit, Scoot and Alex Kelly were at work. On just her second attempt, Scoot launched herself 13.16m/43-2.25", setting a new school record in the event and setting a new indoor best. She was also only 10cm off from her all-time outdoor best of 13.26m. Kelly would also grab another point with a mark of 12.44/40-9.75".
In the cage, Siniru Iheoma and Layla Giordano delivered in the shot put, claiming second and third with huge performances. Iheoma threw an indoor personal best of 15.32m/50-3.25, while Giordano set a new college best with a mark of 14.91m/48-11.0".
The final round of events were the relays, with the distance medley relay first. The DMR squad of Lexi Allen, Mirtel Klaar, Margaret Thompson and Riggins inched Princeton closer with another point from their sixth place finish.
The 4x800 was next, and as the team gathered around the track to cheer them on, Stella Vieth took off with the baton first. Peyton Leigh followed, handing off to Maddie Cramer, before Scatchard was there to close out the race. With space, Scatchard ran a fast 2:04.31 anchor leg, helping the Tigers get the gold with a time of 8:39.99.
Earning a critical 10 points, the four beaming Tigers celebrated in a huddle before moving to the infield to watch the final event.
Princeton now led Harvard 160-150, meaning they would need to place to clinch the team title.
Asante was up again, joined this time by Lauren Harris, Singh and Atkinson as they prepared for the 4x400. Each athlete gave the lap her all, and they finished in second place with a time of 3:42.71.
They stood in a tight group, arms around each other celebrating the race, when Tigers running from all directions threw themselves onto the huddle screaming "you did it!"
And they had - with the final scores 168 to 160, Princeton won the 2025 Ivy League Heptagonal Championship title.
And after knocking on the door in second place for the past three years, the victory was even sweeter.
As just eight points separated first and second place, each athlete knew the importance of their events, and they met the moment. Some cried, others danced, but all felt the immense joy of a result won with hard work, dedication and the support of their teammates.
The contagious greatness that spread throughout the team had held through both days of the meet, and for the first time in fourteen years, it was the Princeton Tigers who got to raise the trophy on a bright winter day in Barton Hall.
Up Next
With the outdoor season on the horizon, the Tigers will first look to the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14 & 15 in Virginia Beach, Va., where Mena Scatchard will represent Princeton in the mile.
Players Mentioned
