Lions to Race in Sold-Out Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden

The Columbia track teams will be taking their racing spikes uptown and downtown on Friday as the relay team will race at Madison Square Garden. After the men and women compete at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championships at the Armory Track & Field Center, the Lions’ 4x800-meter relay will travel to the Garden to race in front of a sold-out crowd at the Millrose Games.

After placing fifth on the men’s side and fourth for the women’s, the Light Blue is looking to improve upon last season’s results. Without recently graduated runners Erison Hurtault, Ashley Williams, Margaret Frank, and Kent Collins, all of whom placed in the top four of their events at the 2007 Metropolitan Championships, Columbia will have to dig deep to advance its standing. The loss of Hurtault will be especially noticeable, as last year he won the 400-meter dash for the second time.

The Columbia women will look to this season’s consistent athletes like junior sprinter Melissa Ikono for points. Ikono, who placed fourth in the 55-meter dash at last weekend’s Great Dane Classic, took sixth in the 60-meter dash at last year’s Metropolitan Championships. Sophomore Serita Lachesis is also a meet veteran, having taken third in 500-meter event the previous season.

On the men’s side, senior Dan Whitt took fifth in the 5,000-meter event last season. Sophomore sprinter Stefan Vutescu, who placed well at the Great Dane Classic in the 55-meter dash, may also provide support for the Lions.

Rutgers, who won both the men’s and women’s competitions, will be returning to the meet as a strong contender. Thus far, the Terrier women have taken second at the Fordham Invitational, and both teams have had many championship qualifying times at the Terrier Invitational and Penn State Open.

Later on at the Millrose Games, sophomore Mike Mark and seniors Jonah Rathbun, Liam Boylan-Pett, and Zach Richard will make up Friday’s relay squad. Mark, Rathbun, and Boylan-Pett were part of the group that raced with All-American anchor Hurtault to break the previous school record and win the Championship of America heat at Penn Relays last year. The 2007 victory was Columbia’s first Championship of America victory at Penn Relays since 1938.

Coverage of the Millrose Games will start at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.