PRINCETON, N.J. — Led by a record-breaking performance from junior Pierre Attiogbe and a dominant showing in the throws, the Cornell men's track and field team battled through scorching temperatures Sunday to finish fourth at the Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Princeton University with 65.5 points.
Under sunshine and temperatures climbing into the 90s, the Big Red pieced together points across multiple events, highlighted by Attiogbe's championship run in the 1,500 meters. The junior surged to the title in 3:38.25, setting a new meet record and delivering Cornell's signature moment of the final day.
Cornell also found success in the men's shot put, where sophomore Peter Northrup earned runner-up honors with a personal-best toss of 18.45 meters. Northrup, who recorded throws over 18 meters on each of his measured attempts, was later named the Men's Field Performer of the Meet. Senior Noah Harman joined him among the top finishers, placing fourth with a personal-best mark of 18.00 meters to move into fourth all-time in program history.
"Men's shot put had an electric competition," associate head coach Kevin Phipps said. "Peter Northrup threw over 18 meters on each of his marked throws. He took the lead in round three with his first PR of the day, then added more in round six to secure second place for the team, extending his third all-time mark to 18.45 meters."
Ryder King delivered points in multiple sprint hurdle events for the Big Red. The senior placed second in the 400-meter hurdles in 51.00 after earlier finishing fourth in the 110-meter hurdle final with a time of 13.96. Sophomore Jason Meza added another podium-level finish in the 400-meter hurdles, taking fourth in a personal-best 51.59.
Freshman Edgar Thielens continued his strong season in the middle distances, placing fourth in the 800 meters with a personal-best time of 1:49.90.
Cornell's 4x100-meter relay team of Garrett Brennan, Ricardo Lagares Jr., Ryder King and Panashe Nhenga earned points with a sixth-place finish in a season-best 40.61.
In the field events, juniors Kameron Coleman and Desmond Whitley scored together in the triple jump. Coleman placed fifth with a personal-best leap of 15.15 meters, while Whitley followed closely in sixth at 15.13 meters, a season best. Junior Ryan Brynjolfson added another point in the high jump, clearing 1.98 meters for sixth place.
Senior Joseph Rachiele narrowly missed the scoring positions in the javelin, finishing seventh with a throw of 55.08 meters.
Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Panashe Nhenga placed seventh in the 100-meter final in 10.67 before taking eighth in the 200 meters in 21.37. The 4x400 relay team of Garrett Brennan, Seamus Finn, Jason Meza and Michael Mazero closed the meet with a season-best time of 3:10.84 to finish seventh.
Freshman Kyle Velasco recorded a personal-best 5,922 points in the decathlon to place seventh overall.
In distance events, senior Tyler Canaday finished ninth in the 5,000 meters in 14:42.08, while junior Matthew O'Brien crossed 12th in 14:50.13. Sophomore Colin Martens placed 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:30.03, followed by junior Adam Martinson in 14th at 9:41.92.
Cornell also competed in both relay distance events, with the 4x800-meter relay team of Elijah Schechter, Ryan Johnson, Edgar Thielens and Finn Boyle placing eighth in 7:39.41.
With the conference championship meet complete, Cornell closes the 2026 outdoor season having added multiple marks to the program's all-time top-10 lists while continuing to build momentum with a strong mix of veteran leadership and emerging young talent. The Big Red will now await selections for the NCAA East First Round, set for May 27-28 in Lexington, KY.
