Track & Field: Athletes shatter trio of conference records

Senior co-captain Donn Cabral set the tone for the weekend as he competed in the men’s invitation 5,000m at the Husky Invitational at the University of Washington. Stacked with some of the nation’s best collegiate distance runners, the race started off hot from the gun. Strung out along the over-sized, 300m oval, the runners were after two important goals: personal bests and NCAA championship automatic qualifying times. Tucking into the pack and rallying hard over the last lap of the race, Cabral crossed the line in 13 minutes, 45.92 seconds — erasing the previous Princeton and Ivy League records. Cabral’s time narrowly missed the NCAA Auto of 13:44.60.

Cabral’s record-setting performance opened the floodgates for the rest of his Princeton teammates.

“The excitement on our team is helping push everyone together,” Cabral said. “A little success breeds more success, and that’s what I think is going on right now.”

Running the next day, junior Peter Callahan blazed a sub-four-minute mile for the second time in a row. Lurking a few spots behind for much of the race, Callahan carefully bided his time before launching his devastating kick. Moving from fifth to first over the last 200m, he demolished the rest of the field, finishing in 3:58.76. Callahan’s time was a tenth of a second faster than his performance last week, but still just shy of the Princeton record of 3:58.70.

Keying off his teammates’ stellar performances, senior Joe Stilin kept the fire burning. Racing in an extremely competitive and deep 3000m, Stilin let himself roll as the runners flew around the track. Refusing to be intimidated by some of the biggest names in the NCAA, Stilin held his ground before driving to the line in 7:53.15 for fifth place overall. Stilin’s performance not only bettered his previous school record, but also set a new all-time Ivy League best. Also competing in the invitational race, Princeton graduate Mark Amirault ’11, now at Virginia, ran 7:54.08 for 10th place.

Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away in Cambridge, the cold February air was still thick with Tiger magic. Returning to competition with Princeton for the first time since 2010, sophomore Conor McCullough unleashed a massive weight throw at the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet. Whirling around, McCullough tossed the ball and chain 76 feet and 1 inch to take first by over 20 feet. The throw wiped out the old Ivy League record by nearly six feet. McCullough’s timely addition to the field squad will be invaluable in Princeton’s defense of the Heptagonal Championships title.

McCullough’s record sparked the rest of the men’s team, as the Tigers scored 100.5 points to bury both Harvard and Yale. The Crimson scored 56.5 points to take second, while the Bulldogs could only manage 13 to finish last.

“We’re making good progress. The guys are improving from week to week, and we’re gaining momentum,” assistant men’s coach Steve Dolan said. “If you look across the events — from fields, to sprints, to distances — they’re going to come together real well for the team, and that’s what it’s going to take.”

Picking up that momentum in the field events, senior co-captain David Slovenski placed second in the pole vault. Slovenski cleared 5.30 meters — coming close to breaking the Ivy League record he set in early December. Harvard’s Nico Weiler won the event with another jump of 5.30 meters, but had missed fewer times at previous heights.

Sweeping the long jump, sophomores Tom Hopkins, Shane Molidor and Damon McLean placed first, second and third, respectively. Classmate Omar Jarrett won the high jump, while senior Patrick Park picked up points for third place in the shot put. Damon McLean came back to win the triple jump with a leap of 15.24 meters — the leading mark in the league this season.

Finally starting to round into shape, the Princeton sprinters had a good day in Cambridge as freshman William Egi won the 60m dash in 6.92 seconds. Junior Ricky Sheldon took the 60m hurdles in 8.16, while Tom Hopkins — continuing to impress — placed first in the 400m in 48.21.

The Tigers shut the door on Harvard and Yale in the middle distance events, as senior Trevor van Ackeren and sophomores Alejandro Arroyo Yamin and Michael Williams swept the top three spots in the mile. Freshman Bradley Paternostro picked up a win in the 800m in 1:50.98, while sophomore Chris Bendsten ran away with the 3000m in 8:14.02.

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The Princeton women continued to gain confidence, as they won their side of the meet with 80 points over Harvard’s 65.5, while Yale finished third with 13.5 points.

Putting Princeton ahead with a strong one-two punch, sophomores Imani Oliver and Theresa Kennedy placed first and second in the triple jump. Kennedy also took second in the high jump, while junior Tory Worthen won the pole vault, clearing 13 feet, 1.5 inches.

Getting things started on the track, freshman Tejumade Adewole took the 60m hurdles in 8.82, while senior co-captain Eileen Moran posted double victories in the 60m and 200m dashes. Freshman Emily Easton and sophomore Lily Miller came in behind Moran in the 200m to make it a Tiger 1-2-3. Continuing to step up, freshman Cecilia Barowski set a new personal best in the 400m, winning in 55.43 seconds.

Following the success over the short sprints, the Tigers continued to widen the gap as junior Greta Feldman won the mile in a quick 4:48.69, while classmate Melissa Newbery won the 3,000m in 9:43.06. Sophomore Theresa Devine finished right behind Newbery for second. Battling down the final stretch to the line, sophomores Kacie O’Neil and Kristin Smoot placed second and third behind Meghan Looney from Harvard in a tight 800m battle.

With Heps right around the corner on Feb. 25 and 26, the weekend served as an outstanding indicator of the Tigers’ strength and fitness. Encouraged and motivated by the electric team atmosphere, the Tigers are determined to keep on moving forward.

“Everyone is out there running everyday,” Cabral said. “They’re motivated and fired up by the performances that are going on around them, and that makes you believe that you can do something, too. Once you have the inspiration to believe, the times come.”