Heptathlon Results
Pentathlon Results
Cornell Relays Overall Results

ITHACA, N.Y. -- After a productive fall of training, the Cornell track and field teams kicked off the indoor season with a very strong first meet, hosting the 17-school Cornell Relays on Friday and Saturday in Barton Hall.  Both the Cornell men and women displayed remarkable depth and were led by some high-powered performances in the jumps.  And, as has become a terrific tradition, several alumni returned to Barton Hall to compete and produce national- and world-class efforts. 

Particularly noteworthy were the national collegiate-leading efforts of sophomore Montez Blair in the high jump and senior co-captain Melissa Hewitt in the long jump.  As of Saturday night, both had the best marks in the NCAA in the early going of the season.  Hewitt leapt 20' 2.5" to win the long jump (only half an inch from her personal best), and Blair set school- and Barton Hall records in clearing a remarkable 7'3.5" in his first competition for Cornell.  Also very noteworthy was the performance of Muhammad Halim '08.  After winning the long jump in a personal best 25' 9.25", the 2008 NCAA Champion came back with a huge personal best of 55-4.25"to set a new Barton Hall record in the triple jump.  More importantly, Halim's mark in the triple jump exceeds the IAAF "B" standard for the Olympic Games this upcoming summer in London and is truly a world-class effort.

The Cornell men boasted five event wins and over 25 top-five finishes as well as a remarkable 15 IC4A qualifiers.  In addition to Blair's huge day in the triple jump, sophomore Steven Bell had a great day in the horizontal jumps, placing second in the long jump at 23-8 3/4 and third in the triple jump at 48-8 1/4, both IC4A qualifiers.  Classmate Hercules Stancil jumped 23-0 for fifth in the long jump and another sophomore, Dan Scott, was fourth in the triple jump in an  IC4A-qualifying 48-2 3/4.  In the throws, senior co-captain Bob Belden was terrific with a pair of IC4A qualifiers:  56-10 3/4 for second in the weight and 57-7 3/4 to win the shot, only half an inch from his indoor personal record. Freshman Stephen Mozia was also very impressive in his first competition for the Big Red, placing second in the shot put at 55-5 3/4, No. 9 all-time at Cornell.  Classmate Ben Tempas was third in 50-8 1/4.  Meanwhile, in the heptathlon, senior Josh Cusick moved to No. 2 all-time at Cornell with a score of 5,176 to win the competition.  Joining him as an IC4A qualifier were classmates Vince Formica (4922, #8 all-time) and Chris Ryan (4861, #10 all-time).   Also in the top five of their events were freshman Keith Rayburn (15-3 in the vault for fifth) and sophomore Tommy Butler (6-7 for fourth in the high jump).

On the track, the Big Red was particularly impressive in the middle distances as the team swept the first three spots in the 4x800 as each team easily bettered the IC4A standard, with times of 7:46.97, 7:48.76 and 7:51.85.  Particularly impressive legs came from junior Nick Wade, sophomore John Schilkowsky and freshman Rutger Admirand.  In the 60 dash, sophomore Chris Bain ran 6.82 to place second and junior Jedidiah Adarquah-Yiadom was fifth in 6.91 as the duo put up times that are among the best in the nation in the early going of the season.  The Big Red got an event win from senior Brian Freitas, who ran 65.69 in the 500; sophomore Anderson was fourth in 66.30. In the 60 hurdles, Andersen was fourth again, this time in 8.63. The team also showed good depth in the 4x400, taking three of the top five places.

The Cornell women were led by senior co-captain Melissa Hewitt's two event wins as the squad produced five first-place finishes overall, a pair of ECAC qualifiers and over 25 top-five finishes.  In addition to Hewitt's ECAC qualifying long jump victory of 20-2 1/2 (nearly two feet better than second place), she also came on strong to win the 300 in 40.35.  Another senior had a terrific day in the field as Kristin Brandt won the triple jump in an ECAC-qualifying 39-6 1/2, an impressive early season showing. Brandt also placed fourth in the long jump at 17-11 3/4.  Yet another senior, Erin Rossi, got off to a strong start with a second-place effort of 51-7 1/4 in the weight throw.  Good performances in the field also came from sophomore Jennifer Bush, who was fifth in the long jump at 17-10 3/5, sixth in the triple jump at 37-6 and sixth in the high jump at 5-5. Junior Savannah Johnson also had a solid start, placing third in the triple jump at 37-10 3/4. Junior Claire Dishong opened her season with a runner-up finish in the pole vault at 11-3 3/4 and senior Sam Brady was fourth, clearing 10-10.

The Big Red displayed impressive depth on the track.  In addition to Hewitt's win in the 300, sophomore Ebolutalese Airewele looked strong in placing third in 40.44 while senior Kelsey Reimnitz was fifth in 41.48.  And in the 500, the Big Red looked very good in sweeping the top four places.  Freshman Zena Kolliesuah took first in 1:16.96, sophomore Ryan Woolley was second in 1:17.98, senior co-captain Molly Glantz was third in 1:18.04 and sophomore Libby O'Brien was fourth in 1:18.25.  This group came back to sweep the first two places in the 4x400 as Airewele (60.4), Glantz (59.5), Kolliesiuah (56.8) and freshman Katie Woodford (57.0) ran 3:54.18, closely followed by the quartet of  O'Brien (60.3), Reimnitz (58.5), Woolley (58.1) and sophomore Dorehn Coleman (60.2), who ran 3:57.47.  The anchor of the first place team, Katie Woodford, ran very well in the 60 dash earlier, placing third in 7.88.  And in the 60 hurdles, the senior tandem of Dani Silas and Taylor Baird led the way, with Silas second in 8.91, Baird third in 9.11 and sophomore Zaakirah Daniels third in 9.17. Meanwhile, in the middle distances, another traditionally deep area for Cornell, the team took the top two places in the 4x800 and produced the top two collegiate performances in the distance medley relay.  In the 4x800, senior Bry Bonavita (2:19.1), junior Liz Reamer (2:22.7), sophomore Tori Kiss (2:30.0) and sophomore Meaghan Werle (2:26.8) ran 9:39.12 while the team of freshman Jade Williams (2:18.0), junior Marie McKenna (2:29.9), freshman Tess Berghoff (2:21.7) and sophomore Andrea Sielicki (2:31.2) was second in 9:40.88. Earlier, in the distance medley relay, the team of Williams (an impressive 3:36.8 for 1200), Werle (63.3), McKenna (2:25.4 for 800) and sophomore Cara Janeczko (5:32.8 for 1600) ran 12:38.94 for second overall. 

As mentioned, one of the highlights of the Cornell Relays in recent years has the been the return of several alumni to compete.  In addition to Halim's terrific performances in the long and triple jumps, there were many other noteworthy performances. Gary Jones '11 was second in the triple jump at 50-1 3/4, Garrett Huyler '09 cleared 7-1 for second in the high jump even as Montez Blair took away his school record, Nate Jauvtis '99 and Rick Zamora '10 both cleared 15-3 in tying for second in the pole vault and Sean Potter '11 placed fifth overall in the 60 hurdles (8.68).  And in a hotly contested alumni section of the 60 dash, Cody Boyd' 11 placed first in 7.16, edging Brian Tan '11, who ran 7.18.  On the women's side, Kim Standridge '11 led off the victorious distance medley relay in 3:34.5 for 1200 and handed off to Kate Backel '10 who ran 57.3 for 400 while Robyn Ellerbrock '07 anchored the team in 5:15.7 before coming back to win her heat of the 3000.

Next up for the Big Red is final exams, which begin this coming week.  After the winter holidays, the Cornell teams will resume competition on Jan. 6 in Barton Hall at the Southern Tier Collegiate Classic and will compete at Penn State on Jan. 14.