NEW YORK – Cornell women's track and field veterans and newcomers alike shared time in the spotlight on the second and final day of the Rutgers Open on Saturday at The Armory.
Although a quartet of Big Red student-athletes competing in their first collegiate indoor season made great strides on Saturday, perhaps the top performance of the day came from junior pole vaulter Victoria Atkinson whose standout indoor campaign continues to take flight. Atkinson notched a personal-best for the fifth time in six meets this season, clearing 4.06m (13-03.75) to finish third with a mark that ranks second in the Ivy League so far this season and second all-time in Cornell history.
Freshmen Noelle Elkinton, Gwen Parks, and Jada Smith, along with sophomore Izzy MacFarlane, all performed well beyond their years. Elkinton placed second in the college division of the shot put with a personal-best heave of 13.81m (45-03.75). Parks dropped over three seconds to her 800-meter time from last weekend's Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge, crossing the finish line in a personal-best 2:12.33 to place seventh. Smith made the finals of the 60-meter dash after matching her personal-best of 7.65 in the semifinals, a mark which ranks 10th all-time in Cornell history. She would go on to finish eighth in finals with a time of 7.77. MacFarlane's performance in the 3,000-meter run can't be overlooked, as she finished second in a personal-best 9:32.63.
Cornell was represented well in the 60-meter hurdle finals, as three Big Red competitors toed the line. Senior Beatrice Juskeviciute was Cornell's top finisher, placing fourth in 8.51. Senior Brooke Overholt (8.57) and junior Ama Boham (8.58) placed sixth and seventh, respectively. For Boham, her time marked a personal-best for the second-straight day and sits fourth all-time in the Big Red record books. Juskeviciute also added a personal-best performance in the 200-meter, finishing sixth in 24.73.
Senior Marguerite Lorenzo and junior Dea Fackovic-Volcanjk performed well in their respective jumps events, as Lorenzo placed third in the high jump (1.77m/5-09.75) and Fackovic-Volcanjk finished seventh in the triple jump (11.56m/37-11.25).
The Cornell women's track and field team will return home to host the Deneault Invite on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Barton Hall in Ithaca, N.Y. in what will be the Big Red's final tune-up before Heps on Feb. 26-27 at The Armory in New York.
