Princeton Men’s and Women’s Track and Field traveled to Ithaca, N.Y. for the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track and Field Championships (Heps), a two-day, 20-event showdown, from which both squads emerged victorious.
The men were heavily favored entering the meet and took care of business, topping the podium with a score of 189.5 to Penn’s 104.5 and host Cornell’s 82. The title was their 10th straight and conference-leading 27th overall.
The women’s contest came down to Princeton and Harvard, and the Tigers fought to a 168–160 win. Every other team finished over 100 points behind the Tigers, who are now tied with Penn for the most titles in league history at 10.
Both teams will have a chance to complete the Heps triple crown (XC, indoor, and outdoor titles) this spring.
Decade of dominance: Men’s Track and Field claim 10th straight championship win
The Princeton men produced a dominant showing to cap off a dominant decade of Heps wins. The wins haven’t always come this easy though. In 2023, Princeton outlasted Harvard by a single point to keep the streak alive. This time, the Tigers scored at least 10 points in every event on the track except the 60m dash and, ironically, the DMR, on their way to an 85-point victory.
Junior Greg Foster got the Tigers started on Saturday, winning his third long jump title in a row with a 7.58m jump. Foster then turned to the track and advanced through the 60m hurdles prelims just a few minutes later.
Junior Myles Hogan (8:02.17) kicked to a second place finish in the 3000m, and first-year Jacob Nenow and senior Nick Bendtsen added three more points to the Tigers’ total in fifth and sixth.
At the end of the first day, Princeton trailed 25–22.5 to Cornell, but with 16 events remaining to be scored, this deficit did not stand a chance.
Opening day two, juniors Joe Licata and Casey Helm earned first and second in the shot put, throwing 18.97m and 18.33m respectively.
In the sprints, Foster (7.85) and junior Easton Tan (7.90) went 3-4 in the 60m hurdles, sophomore Jackson Clarke ran a blazing 21.13 to win the 200m, and junior Joey Gant closely trailed Clarke for second. Gant doubled back in the 400m and took the victory in 47.13, earning him Most Outstanding Men’s Track Performer of the Meet honors.
The Tigers shone everywhere, but nowhere brighter than the mid-distance and distance events, where they racked up 84 points across the two days. On Sunday, senior Sam Rodman (1:48.78) and junior Connor McCormick (1:49.09) secured first and second in the 800m, senior Harrison Witt (2:19.98) eviscerated the field in the 1000m, sophomore Collin Boler (4:02.23) took home silver in the mile, and Bendtsen (13:51.39) defended his 5000m crown, leading a 1-2-3 Princeton finish with Hogan and Nenow in tow.
With the win secured long ago, the Tigers did not let up in the meet’s final races. Princeton ran their “A” teams in the 4x400m and 4x800m, winning them both to formalize their 27th conference title.
Back on top: Women’s Track and Field secure first Ivy title since 2011
“The team was amazing from the very first race to the very last,” Head Coach Michelle Eisenreich wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “The women showed incredible fight and determination through both days.”
The first women’s event on the track was the pentathlon 60m hurdles. Eisenreich credited junior pentathlete Julia Jongejeugd as having “set the tone” for the meet with a school record 8.48-second clocking in this opening race.
Jongejeugd continued to hang on to win the Pentathlon by just four points with a score of 3994, an improvement on her school No. 2 all-time result from earlier this year. Joining Jongejeugd atop the podium on the first day, and likewise improving their own Princeton No. 2 marks, sophomore Angela McAuslan-Kelly won the weight throw with a 20.21m heave and junior Alexandra Kelly lept out to a 6.25m long jump win.
Senior Mena Scatchard (9:11.80) strided away from the field in the 3000m, opening up a nine second lead in the final 400m and notching an additional 10 points for the Tigers.
Despite winning four out of the five Saturday events, the women only carried a slim 56–54 advantage into day 2. To kick off championship Sunday, Scatchard (4:36.23) was back in action less than 24 hours after her 3000m win, this time winning the mile by four seconds.
“I planned to sit behind the leaders and kick at the end,” Scatchard wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “This way I could conserve as much energy as possible for the other races and be there for the team!”
Senior Adelaide Asante took double bronze in the 60m hurdles and the 200m, minting new school records (8.41 and 24.05) as she did, ending the one-day reign of Jongejeugd’s 60mH mark.
Records and wins kept on flowing, and the Tigers kept building momentum. Coach Brad Hunt described the successive victories that brought the team towards the title, saying “the most exciting moment was the next [one].” Throughout the second day, the Tigers and the Crimson swapped leads several times. Harvard picked up points in the short sprints, Princeton in the field events, and the two rivals split the distance races.
Senior Siniru Iheoma (15.32m) and first-year Layla Giordano (14.91m) went 2-3 in the shot put, and sophomore Hannah Riggins dominated the 1000m, running a school, meet, and facility record with a 2:40.86 time. Junior Georgina Scoot, who placed third in the long jump on day one, defended last year’s triple jump crown with a 13.16m effort and was named Most Outstanding Women’s Field Performer of the Meet.
Ultimately, Princeton took a 150–144 lead into the final two races of the day — the 4x800m and 4x400m relays.
Scatchard completed her triple event win by anchoring the 4x800. She grabbed the baton in third and pulled the team to a facility record 8:39.99 victory. Harvard star Sophia Gorriaran — notably absent from the open races — fought hard to pull the Crimson from seventh to third, but Princeton extended their lead to ten points. The worst they could do now was share the title.
With the meet to be decided by the always exhilarating relays, Barton Hall was rocking. “It was a crazy loud atmosphere during the relay as the team race was coming down to the final two events,” Scatchard said. “I’m super pumped we were able to pull it off!”
Harvard pulled away from the field in the 4x400, but no matter how far ahead they got, they could not catch the Tigers in the standings. Junior Maisha Atkinson crossed the line in second and in doing so sealed the championship win for the Orange and Black.
This result had been a long time coming.
“Pushing that boulder up the hill took a lot of work, but each class accepted the torch and made the team a little bit better. There is no doubt we are entering a new era for Princeton Women’s Track and Field thanks to the hard work from all the athletes over these last 9 years,” Eisenreich wrote, reflecting on the long climb back to the top of the Ivy League during her tenure.
Luke Stockless is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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