Outdoor Track Hopes for Stronger Finishes

The outdoor track season will be Columbia’s opportunity to turn its individual success on the indoor circuit and turn it into tangible team results. Coming off a fifth place finish on the women’s side and a sixth place performance on the men’s side during the indoor Ivy League Championships, the Lions will need to train hard to advance to one of the top three spots at the outdoor Heptagonals.

During last year’s Outdoor Ivy League Championships, the Light Blue walked away at fifth in the men’s competition and fourth in the women’s contest. The standings on both sides leave room for the Lions to place higher come this year’s Heptagonal meet, but perennial champions Cornell and Princeton have a strong hold on the competition and may not leave much wiggle room for Columbia to scoop a solid third.

The team’s packed schedule this season should help matters and give the Lions a chance to face off against league opponents on multiple occasions. The Princeton Invitational, Penn Invite, and Yale Invitational in April will expose Columbia to its Ivy competition, while more intense events like the NYC Mayors Cup and Penn Relays will shape the Light Blue’s approach to more diverse and tough opponents. The Penn Relays were a highlight last season when the men’s 4x800-meter relay team captured the Championship of America title, earning Columbia’s first championship-level victory at the relays since 1938.

Last season’s All-Ivy athletes will undoubtedly contribute heavily in the coming meets. Senior cocaptain Liam Boylan-Pett was the only first-team qualifier from indoor track, and freshman Jeff Moriarty, junior Melissa Ikono, and seniors Erika Moses and Osamuede Iyoha are all second-team athletes.

The Lions can also look to their strong distance core for support, but last season proves that in order to succeed within the Ivy League, the Light Blue needs to develop depth in the field and sprint events. Cornell, the winner on the men’s side and third-place team on the women’s side at the Indoor Heptagonals, has a stranglehold on field events and possesses a variety of talent that Columbia should aim to emulate.

The Lions will kick off their spring season this Saturday at the Richmond Relays in Richmond, Va.