Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Take Second at Heps

The men’s and women’s track and field teams each placed second at the 2016 Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, hosted at Weaver Stadium May 8-9.

For the women’s squad, Heps marked the final league meet under the leadership of head coach Peter Farrell, who has been directing the program for 39 years. The Tigers responded to their coach’s final meet with exceptional performances across the board.

“On the first day of Heps alone, we tallied around 20 season-best or personal-best marks among the girls who competed,” said hurdler and sprinter Meghan McMullin ’16. Along with Elisa Steele ’17, Quinn Parker ’18, and Cecilia Barowski ’16, McMullin ran in the Tigers’ first 4x400-meter relay victory since 1997.

Emily de La Bruyere ’16, a middle-distance runner, was likewise impressed by the team’s performances. “People stepped out there over the weekend and held their own in what can be one of the toughest, most intense arenas we experience,” she said. “The sheer number of personal records was amazing.”

Relay victories highlighted a weekend of strong performances on Princeton’s home track.

Kennedy O’Dell ’18 was the team’s leading individual scorer, winning the hammer throw and placing third in the discus and fifth in the hammer throw. Barowski, who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 800 meters earlier this year, ran a personal best of 52.97 seconds in the 400, earning the title and another school record. Princeton trailed champion Harvard by 11 points in the final team standings.

The Princeton men continued a 10-year streak of placing either first or second at Outdoor Heps. The relay team of Charles Volker ’19, Josh Billington ’19, Daniel McCord ’16, and Carrington Akosa ’18 led Princeton to the 4x100-meter relay title for the first time since 2000 with a time of 40.41. Ray Mennin ’17 placed third in the 400 meters at 47.18.

The Tigers won the “triple crown” — Ivy team titles in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field — in 2014-15, and captured the indoor Heps title again this year.