Track & Field: Tigers dominate HYP

The men’s team was hardly challenged at its meet with 14 of the day’s 16 events won by Princeton athletes. The Tigers finished with a score of 114, while the Crimson, the runner-ups, scrounged only 36. The Bulldogs walked away with 19 points.

Princeton’s athletes found their greatest competition in their teammates. Six of the seven competitors in the 60m dash were Tigers, easily earning Princeton a sweep of the top five spots. Junior Kasif Smith took first, followed by freshman Brian Mills and sophomore Sebastian Steffen.

Junior sprinter Austin Hollimon continued his illustrious collegiate career by not only winning the 200m race, but also breaking Princeton’s program record in the event. Hollimon’s time on Saturday, 21.54 seconds, was the third fastest in Ivy League history. Steffen and Smith followed in second and third places, respectively.

Senior sprinter Mike Eddy finished the 400m in 48.23 seconds to break the HYP meet record and take first. Freshman sprinter Tom Hopkins followed Eddy with a time of 48.75 seconds.

The Tigers continued to dominate in longer-distance events, with sophomore mid-distance runners Peter Callahan and Russell Dinkins taking first and second in the 800m. Callahan’s time of 1 minute, 48.66 seconds set a new HYP meet record. Junior mid-distance runner Trevor Van Ackeren won the 1,000m, while junior distance runner Tyler King took top honors in the 3,000m. Freshmen distance runners Alejandro Arroyo Yamin and Chris Bendsten followed King to take third and fourth, respectively, after Harvard’s Dan Chenoweth.

Princeton swept the 60m hurdles, with sophomore Richard Sheldon, senior Adam Thayer and freshman Tom Hopkins taking the first three places. Junior vaulter David Slovenski took top honors in the pole vault, followed by classmate Derek Hynes. Senior throwers Craig Pearce and George Abyad won the weight throw and shot put, respectively.

Freshman jumper Damon McLean had a terrific meet, winning both the long jump and the triple jump. Classmate Omar Jarrett took first in the high jump, followed by junior Isaac Serwanga.

The women also saw a resolute victory on their side of the track. The Tigers took 10 of the day’s 15 events and outscored second-place Harvard by 49 points. At the end of the day, the score was 90.5 for Princeton, 41.5 for Harvard and 27.0 for Yale.

Junior sprinter Eileen Moran was the star of the day, taking victory in the 60m and 200m races. Sophomore jumper and sprinter Erin Guty followed Moran closely, placing second in both events.

The Tigers dominated field events, with Guty moving on to win the long jump. Freshman jumper Imani Oliver placed first in the triple jump, while senior throwers Thanithia Billings and Emma Ruggiero took top honors in the shot put and weight throw, respectively.

Princeton took the top four places in the pole vault competition. Sophomore vaulter Tory Worthen led the pack by clearing 3.75 meters. Worthen is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. Freshman Samantha Anderson and sophomore Lauren Tauscher tied for second and junior Lydia Arias took fourth.

Senior distance runner Alex Banfich finished the 3,000m in 9:30.90, winning the race. Sophomore sprinter Melissa Zajdel clocked in at 2:11.50 to take top honors in the 800m.

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Next week, both teams will be back home in Jadwin Gymnasium to host the annual Princeton Invitational. The following weekend, the Tigers will travel to The Armory in New York City to compete in the Ivy League’s Heptagonal Championships.