NEW YORK – Cornell women's track and field senior jumper Leone Farquharson leaped to a new level on the first day of the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge on Friday at The Armory, posting the eighth-farthest mark in the long jump in all of Division I so far this season.

Not only did Farquharson win the event on Friday, she did so in style, jumping a personal-best 6.35m (20-10.00) and recording an Ivy League-leading and top-eight nationally-ranking mark in the process. Farquharson's jump on Friday crushes her previous personal-best of 6.22m (20-05.00) from the 2019-20 season and leads the Ivy League performance list by six-and-a-half inches. Her mark also ranks second in Cornell history, second just to seven-time All-American Jeomi Maduka '09.

Farquharson was just one of multiple bright spots on the day for the Big Red, who sits in third among 19 teams after one day of competition with 16 points. Senior multi Beatrice Juskeviciute broke yet another of her own Cornell school records, this time in the 60-meter hurdles. Juskeviciute finished sixth overall with a school record time of 8.45, surpassing her previous record of 8.49 from earlier this season at the Greg Page Relays on Dec. 4.

Freshman Jada Smith had the best performance of her young collegiate career on Friday, making the finals of the 60-meter dash after scooping up the last qualifying spot with a personal-best 7.65. The mark drops significant time from her previous season-best of 7.73 at the Villanova Invitational on Jan. 22 and cracks Cornell's all-time top-10 list, coming in at #10 all-time in Big Red history. Smith went on to finish seventh overall in finals with a time of 7.72.

The Big Red are back in action on Saturday for the second and final day of the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge.