Complete Results

IRVINE, Calif. – The Cornell women's track team concluded another terrific spring trip to the west coast on Friday and Saturday at the UC Irvine Spring Break Invitational. After a demanding and productive week of training in great weather, the Cornell women concluded the weekend with six event wins, two meet records, 18 ECAC qualifiers and 10 changes to the school all-time top 10 lists.

Pleasant conditions provided a very good atmosphere for the 5000 and 3000 steeplechase on Friday evening, and the Cornell women took advantage to produce a pair of 1-2 finishes and two new meet records. Up first in the 5000, junior Katie Kellner ran the fastest time in the NCAA in the still-young outdoor season, running a meet record (previously set by junior Kelsey Karys in 2010) of 16:33.19, leading wire-to-wire. And in her first ever 5000 on the track, sophomore Devin McMahon ran a fine race to place second in 16:49.79, easily an ECAC qualifier.

Next up in the 3K steeplechase, the tandem of junior Genna Hartung and sophomore Rachel Sorna had a pair of personal bests in placing first and second. Hartung ran 10:27.96 (No. 3 all-time and the second best time in the NCAA in the early going) for the meet record and Sorna was close behind in 10:34.46 (No. 5 all-time at Cornell).

In the women's hammer, a personal best highlighted the first event of the day as senior Erin Rossi moved to No. 5 all-time at Cornell with a fourth-place throw of 173” 2' as part of a very good series of throws overall.

After a great first day of competition on Friday, Saturday got off to great start in the 4x100 as an all-underclassmen quartet of sophomore Anjelique Parnell, freshman Zena Kolliesuah, sophomore Ebolutalese Airewele and freshman Katie Woodford placed first in an exciting race, crossing the line in 46.21, No. 8 all-time at Cornell and just in front of Division II power Grand Canyon University.

Great things continued in the very next event as Cornell went 1-2-4 in the 1500, with three ECAC qualifiers. Senior Janel Parker moved to No. 5 all-time at Cornell with a four-second personal record of 4:21.89, and junior Alyssa O'Connor was close behind in 4:23.82, just .01 removed from the all-time top 10 list. Sophomore Emily Shearer had a great race as well, beginning her outdoor season with a personal record of 4:29.42 to better the ECAC standard in placing fourth.

The Big Red's strength in the middle distances was also clearly evident in the 800 as sophomore Lauren Lloyd ran a fine 2:09.78 to place first. Senior Jade Williams was fifth in 2:10.93 as she joined Lloyd under the ECAC standard. Senior Bry Bonavita was seventh in 2:12.74, and Kim Standridge '11 was second at 2:10.40.

Also running very well was junior Kelsey Karys, who had another good race in her return from an injury in the fall, moving up very well in the final 1000 to place third in the 3K in 10:01.64.

Senior co-captain Molly Glantz finished strong to place third in a competitive 400 hurdles race, running 60.24 to open her outdoor campaign with a good effort. Sophomore Ryan Woolley ran a great race to place fifth in 60.93, good for No. 4 all-time at Cornell. In the short hurdles, senior Taylor Baird was sixth in a personal-record 14.35, No. 9 all-time and just .01 from the ECAC standard.

Freshman Zena Kolliesuah looked very good in the 400, running an ECAC-qualifying 55.77 for third, while junior Libby O'Brien was fourth in 56.53. In the 200, Airewele had a big breakthrough to place second in 24.53 (No. 7 all-time and an ECAC qualifier) while Woodford was fourth in 24.79.

The 4x400 concluded things on the track as the line-up of Woolley (56.1), junior Libby O'Brien (56.0), Airewele (54.9) and Woodford (56.1) ran 3:43.23 to place first and easily better the ECAC standard.

The Big Red was also competitive in the field events. Junior Victoria Imbesi moved to No. 2 all-time in the shot put, reaching 46' 8 1/4” for second and an ECAC qualifier while freshman Megan DeFord was fifth in 42' 4 1/4”.  Cornell picked up another Eastern qualifier in the field from junior Ailish Hanley, who cleared 5' 7” in the high jump to match her personal record and  place second.

Freshman Felicia Reid moved up to No. 8 all-time at Cornell in the javelin, throwing 132' 1” to place second while junior Brittany Dombrowski was fourth at 126' 1”. Senior Kristin Brandt had a good day in the triple jump, placing second at 39' 1 3/4”. Parnell was fourth in the long jump at 18' 4” and sophomore Jennifer Bush was 10th in the high jump at 5' 3”.

The Big Red had several other competitors in the top 15: Brandt (eighth, 17' 7 1/2”) and Johnson (12th, 16' 6”) in the long jump, junior Claire Dishong (seventh, 11' 2 1/4”), freshman Lindsey Enders (11th, 11' 2 1/4”) and senior Sam Brady (16th, 10' 8 1/4”) in the pole vault, sophomores Sarah Udelhofen (12th, 5' 1”) and Sarah Sherman (14th, 5' 1”) in the high jump, junior Dale Kinney (13th, 4:44.58) in the 1500, senior Kelsey Reimnitz (ninth, 57.89) in the 400 and Baird (15th, 25.80) in the 200.

With the spring trip complete, the Big Red will compete on the East Coast for the first time this outdoor season on March 31 at Ithaca College. The team will host the Cornell April Open at the Kane Sports Complex on April 7 and a small group of distance runners will race at the prestigious Stanford Invitational on April 6.