Princeton’s indoor track and field team took Pennsylvania by storm over the last two weekends, contesting the Penn Classic on Feb. 8 and the Penn State National Open at the start of the month. The men dominated the Penn Classic with five event wins, and the women posted some all-time marks in Happy Valley. In both invitationals, the Tigers squared off against both conference and regional competition. The two Tiger squads are both among the best in the Mid-Atlantic region and each ranked first in the Ivy League per USTFCCCA polls.
Sprint superiority
In the Penn Classic’s three premier sprint events — the 60m, 200m, and 400m — eight of the nine total podium spots were topped with orange jerseys.
First-year Jadon Spain won the 60m dash in 6.74 seconds, the eighth fastest time in Tiger history, and sophomore Jackson Clarke and junior Joey Gant secured the silver and bronze positions in the meet’s shortest event.
Clarke and Gant doubled back in the 200m dash, where they secured the top two places, and sophomore Kavon Miller finished fourth, just 0.06 seconds shy of securing the Tigers’ third podium sweep of the day. Gant’s 21.06 time makes him the third fastest man to ever don the Orange and Black, and Clarke’s 20.86 is a new school record for the one-lap race. Clarke joins Cornell alum Bruno Hortelano-Roig, a 2016 Olympian and European Champion, as the only Ivy Leaguers to ever break 21.00 on the short track.
“Coach Abdullah and I actually talked about breaking the record and running 20.8 earlier in the week,” Clarke told The Daily Princetonian about his prediction prior to the race. “So it’s always been something in the back of my mind every time I ran the 200 indoors.”
In the 400m, sophomore Xavier Donaldson led a Princeton sweep alongside first-years Jonathan York and Karl Dietz. Donaldson’s 46.89 places him fourth in the school’s record books, and the two rookies also joined the top ten.
Princeton’s sprints core is both immensely talented and overwhelmingly composed of underclass students, signalling a strong few years to come for this unit.
Clarke is optimistic about this season and beyond with this group, saying, “I can attribute a great amount of success I’ve had on the track to having amazing training partners and teammates … Princeton sprints will be good for a long time.”
800 excellence
In the PSU National Open’s 800m, senior Mena Scatchard and sophomore Hannah Riggins took second and third in a field of 51. They ran 2:03.26 and 2:03.66 respectively, christening the pair as the two fastest Tigers ever over the distance, as well as seventh and eighth in the NCAA this season.
Scatchard has now set four individual indoor school records this year, and the 800m is the only one with another Tiger in her vicinity. She broke the 1000m record by two seconds, the mile by four, and the 3000m by 11. Scatchard will leave at least one distance record unscathed, having told the ‘Prince’ she has no plans of running the 5000m this season.
A week later at Penn, the duo of senior Harrison Witt and junior Connor McCormick — Princeton’s two fastest milers — dropped down in distance for a 1–2 finish in the 800. Their 1:47.42 and 1:48.08 make them the second and third fastest ever over the distance. The only Princetonian faster than Witt and McCormick — senior Sam Rodman — placed fourth in the race.
Relay records
The distance medley relay (DMR) is a relay race made up of a 1200m opening leg, followed by a 400, an 800, and capped with a 1600m anchor leg. The twenty-lap affair is a staple of the NCAA indoor season. At the PSU National Open, Princeton’s DMR squad of Scatchard, senior Adelaide Asante, sophomore Peyton Leigh, and Riggins shattered the school record by over six seconds, running 11:04.51.
Five weeks out from nationals, this mark is currently fifth in the country. If this performance remains inside the top 12 when the NCAA Championships qualifying period ends on March 2, the Tigers will be passing the baton on the ultimate stage two weeks later.
The men are scheduled to compete at the BU DMR on Feb. 21, hoping to secure a NCAA qualifying mark of their own.
Singh shines
First-year Jazmyn Singh’s Princeton career is off to a blazing start, and she was one of the few athletes to compete at both the PSU National Open and the Penn Classic, posting strong results in each. Singh, who broke the school’s 300m record earlier this season, covered 400m in 54.68 at Penn State, the third fastest time in Princeton history. The next weekend at Penn, she clocked a 55.73 all by herself, winning her heat by over two seconds.
The Ivy League Championships doubles up on the long sprints, holding 400m and 500m races back-to-back. Last year, the Tigers scored zero points in either event, but the duo of Singh and junior Maisha Atkinson look to change that this year.
Distance doublers
Two key pieces of the Tiger’s Ivy League Champion cross country team, senior Nick Bendtsen and junior Myles Hogan, doubled up in the meet’s distance events. They opened the day running 4:04.46 and 4:10.09 in the mile respectively, then diverged, with Bendtsen running 2:26.35 for fourth in the 1000m and Hogan winning the 3000m in 8:04.39.
Up front in the mile, sophomore Collin Boler finished as top first collegian and third overall behind two pros in 4:00.08 — heartbreakingly close to becoming the eleventh Tiger under the four-minute barrier. In the second heat, first-year Marcelo Parra took four seconds off his PR to run 4:04.96 and lead a Tiger 1-2-3-4 sweep.
Luke Stockless is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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