On Saturday night, Columbia’s track team will partake in its second meet of the indoor season in the final event of a three-part series, NYRR College Saturday Night at the Armory. The women look to continue the momentum of last weekend’s victory at the Dartmouth-Yale-Columbia tri-meet, while the men hope to improve on that performance by fielding a larger squad, particularly in the distance events.
Despite its relatively small size, the meet should be highly competitive. Ivy opponents Cornell—the returning Heptagonals champion for both women and men—and Princeton will be in attendance, in addition to perennial track powerhouses Villanova and the University of Virginia. However, in view of the larger season, this is still a preparatory meet for the Lions more than anything else.
“We will have really great competition, so there should be some big-time performances,” assistant coach Zach Richard said. “No one is racing their real event yet, though. This is a tune-up for Collegiate next weekend.”
Indeed, those who did not compete in the tri-meet last weekend will debut at the Armory, but the Lions are still holding back some top performers. Those runners will finally take the stage these next two weekends, and all will be running their true event.
A few competitors already in the thick of it —and with thus far great success—are those whose endeavors lie inside the 200-meter oval. Freshman Nnenna Okwara and sophomore Monique Roberts are coming off school-record performances in the weight throw and high jump, respectively. Both will be faced with tough adversaries on Saturday.
Competition gets underway at 6:15 p.m. with the women’s 1k event. The Lions will return to the Armory next weekend for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy