ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Big Red women's track and field team opened the 2008-09 track season in impressive fashion on Saturday at the Cornell Relays in Barton Hall.  The team boasted 10 ECAC qualifiers and 9 event wins, two school records and a freshman record.

The team was led by senior Jeomi Maduka, who had one of the most outstanding days in women's Ivy League track and field history.  In the season's first meet,  she won three events and  set two Ivy League records along with a Barton Hall record, and qualified automatically for the NCAAs in the long jump and provisionally for the NCAAs in the triple jump.  She began her day by lowering her own school record in the 60 dash preliminaries with a time of 7.54 before running a school, Ivy and Barton Hall record of 7.48 in the finals. In the long jump, Maduka smashed her own indoor school and Ivy record with an NCAA automatic qualifying 21-3 1/4 and finished off her busy day with an NCAA provisional-qualifying 43-0 1/2 in the triple jump.

Maduka's day was historic but she was not alone on the Cornell roster in having a very impressive first meet.  Also racing very well in the dash were freshman Melissa Hewitt and senior Krystal Williams. Hewitt broke Maduka's school freshman record (and is also now #2 all-time at Cornell) in the 60, placing second to her teammate with a time of 7.57.  Williams set a PR and ran the #4 time in Cornell history to place third in 7.66, another ECAC qualifier.  Junior Jess Weyman had a very good day as well, placing first in the 500 in an ECAC-qualifying 1;15.78, #10 all-time at Cornell; she was followed closely by classmate Megan Williams, who ran 1:16.48 for second. Senior Erin Payne was third in 1:17.30.  The Big Red also got an individual event win on the track from freshman Kelsey Reimnitz, who won the 300 in a very good 41.23.  Cornell's other individual winner on the day was junior Natalie Gengel, who cleared an ECAC-qualifying 12-3 in the pole vault.

The Big Red women also impressed in the relays.  Up first, the Big Red displayed impressive depth in the middle distances, as Cornell took the first three places in the distance medley relay.  The quartet of junior Katie Murdoch (3:41.5), senior Robin Daniels (66.7), senior Tammy Wynne (2:18.0) and senior Amanda Wheat (5:10.4) ran 12:16.80 to place first.  In the 4X800, Cornell took the top two places with the team of Wynne (2:19.5), Murdoch (2:20.9), junior Jeanell English (2:21.7) and freshman Jessie Groth (2:25.7) running 9:28.71 for first place.  And in the 4X400, the team of Reimnitz (60.6), Williams (59.0), Payne (57.6) and Weyman (58.0) blitzed to first with a time of 3:55.35 to close out the meet in style.

Also competing well were freshman Danielle Silas (2nd, 9.05) and sophomore Lauren Tanz (3rd, 9.14) in the 60 hurdles, freshman Kristin Brandt (3rd, 36-11 3/4) in the triple jump and junior Kristen Rhinehardt (2nd, 48-4) in the weight throw.

Complete results of the Cornell Relays can be found at:
http://cornellbigred.com/documents/2008/12/6/2008%20Cornell%20Relays%20Results.pdf?id=1559

Exams start at Cornell next week and the Big Red will return to action after the winter break with the Southern Tier Collegiate Open on January 9, 2009.

Click here for complete results
Click here for heptathlon results