The men and women of the Penn track and field team represented the United States well over the weekend, as the Quakers united with Cornell to defeat British foes Oxford and Cambridge.
This track meet was scored very differently than the typical dual meet. Cornell and Penn joined forces to take on the combined team of their British opponents, and each event winner only earned one point for his or her team.
At the end of the meet, which took place at Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., both the men and women emerged victorious by scores of 14-5 and 15-4, respectively.
On the men’s side, senior Tim Carey just barely edged out Cornell’s freshman Max Hairston by 0.05 seconds to win the 400-meter hurdles.
Freshman thrower Sam Mattis also continued his incredible rookie season with a throw of 183 feet, 4 inches to claim the discus title.
The strong day for Red and Blue throwers continued thanks to the efforts of juniors Jake Brenza and Karl Ingram.
Brenza finished in second place in the shot put and was third in the discus, while Karl Ingram was runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 205 feet, 10 inches.
The Penn women got a big boost from a dominant performance in the 100-meter hurdles. Junior Gabrielle Piper won the event, followed closely by her teammate, senior Amber Scott, for the one-two finish.
Freshman Serena Graf took home the victory in the hammer throw, while fellow rookie Elyssa Gensib ran to a first-place finish in the 1500 meters.
An impressive showing from sophomore Lauren Anderson got her less than two inches away from winning the triple jump, but in the end she had to settle for second place.
However, the biggest story of the weekend was probably the return of junior Connor Paez. The Solon, Ohio native finished ninth in the 1500 meters, his first race in nearly two years since breaking several bones in his foot and leg.
His time of 4:19.27 was far off of the personal best pace that he set his freshman year, but it shows the progress he has made just to return to competitive racing after suffering such a severe injury.
Next summer, Penn and Cornell will travel overseas to take on the English schools on their turf.
The Red and Blue’s next action comes Saturday at the George Mason Invitational. The Fairfax, Va., invite will be a great opportunity for Penn to compete in preparation for the Penn Relays, now less than three weeks away.
SEE ALSO
British foes await Penn track & field in Ithaca
Red and Blue shine in outdoor season debut
Yankelev | Confidence in coming out
Penn track’s Picciallo triumphs against adversity
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