Track Heads to Ithaca for Ivy Championship Hoping to Improve on Last Year's Finish

The Columbia indoor track team will travel up to Ithaca this weekend to compete in the two-day Ivy League Championship. The men’s team will be working to improve upon its fourth-place finish, while the women will be looking to top last season’s last-place finish. Competition will be stiff at Cornell’s Barton Hall, and the Light Blue will have to rely upon its depth to make an impact at the meet.
Columbia’s men have ranked fairly well this season. While Princeton and Cornell will likely dominate the league, the Lions have managed to secure clutch athletes in key events. Sophomore Stefan Vutescu, a consistent performer for the Light Blue, is ranked fourth in the league for the 60-meter dash. At last year’s indoor Heptagonals meet, Vutescu ran the same event in a time that earned him a spot on Columbia’s top 10 all-time list for the race. He is currently the only league-ranked sprinter for the Lions.
The Light Blue shows more promise in the mid- and long-distance events, with sophomore Michael Mark ranked 10th in the 500-meter. Columbia holds a stack in the 800-meter event thanks to Mark, senior Liam Boylan-Pett, and freshman Jeff Moriarty. These three Lions are, however, placed behind two nationally ranked league runners, Dartmouth senior Mike Carmody and Penn senior Tim Kaijala. Earlier this season at the Penn State Open, Kaijala defeated the Light Blue.
Senior Jonah Rathbun, junior Jeff Randall, freshman Tom Poland, and Boylan-Pett will be holding down the distance events, including the 1-mile, 3,000-meter, and 5,000-meter races. Freshman Jeremy Whyte is the Lions’ strongest field athlete and is ranked in the triple jump event. Columbia’s 4x800-meter relay, a squad that placed fourth at the Millrose Games, will likely win its event.
The women’s team will have a much harder time placing well against its competitors. Cornell, Brown, Princeton, and Harvard all have a considerable amount of depth in their programs, leaving little room for Columbia to walk away with a top-three finish. Nevertheless, the Lions have strong individual athletes who may keep the meet exciting. In the sprint events, junior Melissa Ikono and senior Erika Moses will be the Light Blue’s go-to runners. Both women will face stiff competition from runners such as Cornell junior Jeomi Maduka in the 60-meter dash and Penn senior Shaunee Morgan in the 200-meter race. Penn seniors Jesse Carlin, Stacy Kim, and Claire Kim will make it hard for Columbia sophomore Serita Lachesis, junior Marissa Smith, and senior Carmen Ballard to excel in the mid-distance events. The three Quakers have had outstanding seasons, with Carlin earning a national ranking. Senior Stephanie Lenihan, currently seeded second in the 5,000-meter event, will be the Lions’ best bet for a distance win, while senior Osamuede Iyoha and junior Elisse Douglass will represent the Light Blue in the 60-meter hurdles.
This season’s Heptagonals may not be the Lions’ finest team competition, but as Columbia rebuilds, it leaves hope for a strong outdoor season and the individual success of many of its athletes on All-Ivy teams and NCAA qualifiers.