Video of Kellner's Race
Video of 3K Steeplechase Heat 1
Video of 3K Steeplechase Heat 2
Stanford Results
Princeton Results
 
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell track teams sent four distance runners to the Stanford Invitational and came away with terrific performances in each race, including a school record and US Olympic Trials "B" qualifier as well as two performances that are among the ten best of all time in the Ivy League.
 
Competing in great conditions for distance running in world-class fields, the duo of junior Genna Hartung and sophomore Rachel Sorna ran very well in the 3K steeplechase, and juniors Katie Kellner and Brett Kelly were outstanding in the women's and men's 10K.
 
Katie Kellner ran one of the best distance races in Cornell school history, shattering her own school 10K record by an amazing 70 seconds, also surpassing the US Olympic Trials "B" standard by 62 seconds as she ran a brilliant 32:58.73. Kellner's time is the fifth-best time ever run by an Ivy League athlete. Fourteenth overall, Kellner was the seventh college finisher. Through 5K in 16:26 (faster than her outdoor personal record for the 5K), she continued to churn out 79-second 400s to close out her race with a 16:32 5K.
 
Only 13 seconds shy of the Olympic Trials "A" standard, her time is 20 seconds faster than the final times accepted into the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials.
 
A couple hours earlier, the Cornell women's steeplechasers were outstanding as well, and with the top four in Big Red school history all racing, it was a memorable night indeed. Junior Genna Hartung moved to No. 2 all-time at Cornell with a nine-second personal record of 10:19.75, good for No. 7 all-time in Ivy League history and less than five seconds removed from the US Olympic Trials "B" Standard.
 
Hartung was 13th in the fast section and the fifth collegiate finisher in the race. Racing just before her, sophomore Rachel Sorna continued her great season with a six-second PR of 10:28.57, No. 4 all-time at Cornell and a very good showing in her first national-caliber steeple race in college. Twelfth in her heat, she was one of the top 20 collegiate finishers overall in the prestigious meet.
 
It was a fun night for Cornell women's steeplechasing overall, because in addition to the two undergrads, two of Cornell's all-time greats also competed. School record-holder Stephanie Pancoast '10, now a graduate student at Stanford and representing New Balance, ran 10:30.43 in a fine return to the steeplechase after a serious back injury last year. And former school record-holder Robyn Ellerbrock '07, representing the Syracuse Chargers, ran one of her best races since her undergraduate days, running 10:43.66.
 
And last but not least, junior Brett Kelly represented the Big Red men very well. Running in the last race of the night, Kelly ran smart, moving up the field in the first two miles before positioning himself in the lead pack as the racing intensified in the last 5K. Finishing 15th in a 42-second personal best of 29:24.58, Kelly moved to No. 7 all-time at Cornell. Coming in at 14:50 at 5K, Kelly closed in 2:14 for the final 800 en route to an impressive 14:34 final 5K overall.
 
Also racing at Stanford was Adrien Dannemiller '11, who is now representing Indiana University as a graduate student, and he ran a personal record of 14:13.11 in the 5000.
 
The Cornellians competing at Stanford were not the only Big Red athletes competing on Friday as a crew of middle distance and distance runners competed at Princeton's Sam Howell Invitational with very good results.
 
Sophomore John Schilkowsky had a 1500 personal record with a ninth-place showing of 3:47.78, easily an IC4A qualifier. And junior Will McFall had a personal best, running 3:52.86 to place sixth in his heat.
 
A pair of freshmen ran well in the 3K steeplechase as Kieran Kinnare was third in his heat at 9:22.26 and David Melly was fifth in 9:23.98. In the 5K, there was a pair of IC4A qualifiers as sophomore Max Groves had a personal record of 14:23.60 for eighth and junior Andy Arnold was ninth in 14:25.28. Freshman Ben Potts was impressive in running 14:39.91.
 
On the women's side, sophomore Emily Shearer raced well to place fourth in her heat of the 1500 in a time of 4:30.01, and freshman Marianne Collard had a personal record to place 10th in 4:34.26.
 
The Big Red will host the Cornell Spring Invitational on Saturday and then heads to the Bucknell Invitational on April 14-15.