After an indoor season that has pitted them against the tri-state area’s worst teams and the nation’s best, Columbia track and field will finally compete against its Ancient Eight foes at the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonals this weekend. The odds are against the men’s and women’s teams pulling off an upset and grabbing first place, but there should be a number of intense individual battles in Cambridge over the two-day event.
On the men’s side, Cornell—the defending Heptagonals champion—is a good bet to repeat in 2009. The Big Red is strong in the sprints, led by senior Nathan Crabtree, whose time of 21.93 seconds in the 200-meter dash is the fastest time recorded in the Ivy League this year. Cornell shines in distance events, however, with seniors Jimmy Wyner and Andrew Levy destroying competitors left and right in the 800-meter, 1000-meter, mile, and 3000-meter events. Wyner in particular has been a force in the mile, with a season-best 4:01.67 mark set at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games earlier this month.
For Columbia, success on the track will have to come through its stellar distance team. Junior stalwart Mike Mark has turned in top performances in the 500-meter dash, while sophomore teammate Jeff Moriarty will duel with Levy for the 800-meter title. Moriarty’s time of 1:50.60 in the 800 was just four-tenths of a second ahead of Levy for best time in the league this year. Junior Christopher Hays, meanwhile, will be gunning for Levy in the 1000-meter run. Columbia’s true standout this season has been its distance medley relay team—Hays, Moriarty, Mark, and senior Ryan Hays—which turned in a time of 7:33.16 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
In the field events, Cornell and Princeton will battle for supremacy. Princeton junior Justin Frick and Cornell senior Garrett Huyler will square off in the pole vault, while Big Red junior Duane Teixeira will aim to hold off all comers in the long and triple jumps. A pair of Princeton upperclassmen dominates the weights, with junior Eric Plummer besting all other Ivy League contenders in the shot put and senior Alex Pessala topping the weight throw.
On the women’s side, Princeton will be hard-pressed to add a second straight title to its trophy case. Behind senior Jeomi Maduka, Cornell is tops in the sprints, while Brown has a dominant distance team, led by sophomore Samantha Adelberg. The Tigers will be nipping at the Bears’ heels all weekend in the distance events, though, with mile champion Liz Costello at the helm. The junior All-American has the Ivy League’s best time in the mile at 4:48.2, two seconds clear of Harvard sophomore Claire Richardson.
The Light Blue’s outstanding crop of freshmen will need big performances to garner some individual wins. Sharay Hale, already the school’s record holder in the 200-meter dash, is Maduka’s best competition in that event. She also leads the pack in the 400-meter dash. Kyra Caldwell has the best 60-meter hurdles time in the conference at 8.64 seconds. On the field, Monique Roberts faces an uphill task in taking down Harvard senior Becky Christensen in the high jump. Christensen’s jump of 6-feet-3.25-inches is far and away the top mark in the league. Sarah Engle will be pitted against a tough group of Princeton, Dartmouth, and Cornell jumpers in the pole vault, while Uzunma Udeh faces the unenviable task of taking on Maduka in the triple jump.
Ivy League Indoor Heptagonals begin on Feb. 28 at Harvard and continue through the weekend. The first event is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday.