FULLERTON, Calif. -- The Cornell women's track and field teams finished up a great week of competition and training in California on Friday, competing at the Cal State Fullerton Titan Twilight. The Big Red women won 16 events and had 9 ECAC qualifiers, to go along with five alterations to the all-time top 10 lists.

The women were led by sophomore Melissa Hewitt, who ran the #2 time in school history, 24.36, to win the 200.  Another big highlight was the 400 hurdles as Jessica Weyman won in 60.99 and was followed closely by sophomore Molly Glantz (2nd in 61.85, #6 all-time at Cornell) and freshman Mari Giurastante (3rd in 61.88, #7 all-time), as all three bettered the ECAC standard. Cornell went 1-2-3 in the 100 hurdles as well, as sophomore Dani Silas (14.68), sophomore Taylor Baird (14.78) and junior Lauren Tanz (14.97) ran well. The Big Red went 1-2 in the 400, as seniors Kate Backel (56.43) and Megan Williams (57.50) ran away from the field. The duo also both ran 25.24 in the 200 as they finished in third and fourth behind Hewitt. Cornell also finished 1-2-3 in the 3000, as freshman Genna Hartung (a PR 9:48.6, an ECAC qualifier), freshman Katie Kellner (10:07.3) and junior Kristin Sellers (10:16.9, a PR) all did well.  Cornell had a pair of wins and ECAC qualifiers in the middle distances, as junior Kim Standridge won the 1500 in 4:28.26 and senior Kerri Lyons won the 800 in 2:14.97. Sophomore Janel Parker was second in the 800 at 2:16.54 and freshman Kelsey Karys was third in the 1500 at 4:36.36. The Big Red also had an ECAC qualifier in the 3K steeplechase, as senior Erin Roberts ran 10:40.5 for second; junior Maura Carroll was fourth in 11:04.6.  The 4X100 of junior Mecha Santos (who was second in the 100 in 12.17), Hewitt, Megan Williams and senior Krystal Williams (who was third in the 100 at 12.33) won in an ECAC-qualifying 46.85. Similarly, the 4X400 of Giurastante (58.8), Megan Williams (55.8), Backel (54.9), and Weyman (55.1) ran 3:45.04 to easily place first and also dip under the ECAC standard.

The Cornell women had a very good day in the field as well. In the discus, junior Cassie Schweighofer won with an ECAC-qualifying 150-8 and freshmen Claire Dishong (142-7) and Victoria Imbesi (137-4) finished second and third. In the pole vault, senior Natalie Gengel eclipsed the ECAC standard with a clearance of 12-7 1/2 to place first; Dishong continued to have a very good meet, placing second at 11-11 3/4, to equal the second best vault in school history. Sophomore Sam Brady was third at 11-7 3/4, as was freshman Lindsey Patterson, who now sits #6 all-time in school history. Sophomore Kristin Brandt was a double-winner, taking the long jump at 18-2 1/2 and the triple jump at 38-1 1/2; junior Kim Lienhoop was second in both at 17-8 1/4 and 37-7 1/4. Also doing well was Imbesi; after placing third in the discus, she won the shot put at 41-8 and also took third in the javelin at 139-10. Sophomore Erin Rossi won the hammer at 142-5 (with Dishong fourth at 126-5) and freshman Ailish Hanly won the high jump at 5-5. 

Complete results can be found at:
http://www.flashresults.com/flashwest/results/2010track/10Twilight-w.htm

Next up for Cornell is the Bucknell Invitational in Lewisburg, PA on Friday and Saturday, April 9-10, 2010.