ITHACA, N.Y. -- Competing in a chilly Barton Hall, where the heating system had been turned off before the meet started, the Big Red track and field teams placed first in their respective team competitions at the Upstate Challenge on Saturday, defeating upstate New York rivals Buffalo, Colgate, Cortland, Ithaca College and Syracuse. The women were led by senior
Jeomi Maduka's three event wins, including an NCAA-leading effort in the long jump. Leaping 21-9 to set a new Ivy and Barton Hall record, Maduka's performance is the third best by an American collegiate woman in 8 years.
The Cornell women tallied 12 wins and had five ECAC qualifiers, despite the chilly conditions in Barton Hall, which got worse as the day went on and outside temperatures fell to as low as 5 degrees. The Cornell women totalled 294 points to out-distance Buffalo (115), Syracuse (56), Colgate (39), Ithaca College (23) and Cortland (15). Maduka's leap of 21-9 broke the existing Barton Hall record and her own school and Ivy records. Dating back to 2001, only 2008 Olympian Brittany Reese (a collegian at Mississippi ) and 2005 World Champion Tianna Madison (a collegian at Tennessee) have jumped further among American women while in college. Maduka also placed first in the triple jump in an NCAA provisional qualifier of 42-11 1/2 and won the 60 dash in an impressive 7.55, as senior
Janice Nsor (7.74) and junior
Krystal Williams (7.80) finished in the top three as well. Williams came back to win the 200 in 25.58, leading classmates
Megan Williams (25.69) and
Jessica Weyman (25.74) to another 1-2-3 sweep. Senior co-captain
Maria Matos placed first in the weight throw in an ECAC qualifying 58-3 3/4; placing third in a huge personal best was junior
Kristen Rhinehardt, who reached 50-7 1/4. Fellow senior co-captain,
Amanda Wheat, led wire-to-wire in taking first in the 1000 in 3:00.04, just ahead of freshman
Meghan Brown, who was second in 3:00.71 Another senior running well was
Erin Payne, who crossed the line first in the 400 in 57.86. The Big Red had two event wins from freshmen, beginning with
Danielle Silas running the #7 all-time in school history in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.88; classmate
Taylor Baird reached #10 all-time with a third place 9.11. And in the 3000, freshman
Emma Clarke ran 10:21.35, finishing just ahead of sophomore
Katie Sullivan (2nd, 10:24.88) and senior
Emily Bartlett (3rd, 10:26.25). Sophomore
Anna Scull led another 1-2 finish for Cornell, as she ran 2:16.67 for first, just ahead of freshman
Molly Glantz, who ran 2:16.74, in the 800. Cornell also got another first-place performance from junior
Natalie Gengel, who cleared 11-3 3/4 in the pole vault. The 4X400, comprised of Silas, Glantz, Payne and senior co-captain
Tameka Royal, closed out the meet with a first-place 3:56.68
The women had other top-three performances from senior Tammy Wynne in the 500 (2nd, 1:18.20), senior co-captain
Aeriel Emig (2nd, 5:12.28) and junior
Stephanie Pancoast (3rd, 5:12.37) in the mile, senior
Kat Beck (2nd, 18:03.95) and sophomore
Kristin Sellers (3rd, 18:11.87, a 25 second personal best) in the 5000, sophomore Kim Lienhoop (2nd, 17-10 3/4) and senior
Mallory Biblo (3rd, 17-7 1/2) in the long jump and freshman
Karen Schillinger in the pentathlon (3rd, 3035 points).
Complete results are available here:
Upstate Challenge Results
Upstate Challenge Pentathlon
Upstate Challenge Heptathlon
Next up for Cornell track and field is another scored competition, the Harvard Select Meet in Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday, January 31st.
