The Penn Elite Meet certainly lived up to its name.
From Jan. 22-24, Penn Indoor Track and Field faced deep competition from across the nation at the annual Penn Elite. The results were inevitably impressive: 15 meet, six Ott Center, and four program records were set, while eight events saw top-16 NCAA performances.
Junior multis and hurdles specialist Amelia Kristen made her season debut in the pentathlon during the multi-event competition period. Kristen immediately started off with a bang, nearly tying her personal record in the 60 meter hurdles for fifth place out of 18. She followed up with a runner-up performance in the high jump and an eighth-place finish in the shot put.
The Vancouver, B.C. native dominated the long jump, earning 899 points for a 6.16 meter jump, besting the program record and the rest of the field despite not being a jumps specialist. Kristen earned 905 points in the 800 meter to finish off the afternoon, securing a runner-up finish in the pentathlon while beating her own pentathlon program record.
She ultimately only scored two points less than UConn’s Maresa Hense, who jumped to first place after a 950-point finish in the 800 meter. Kristen currently ranks fourth in the NCAA in the pentathlon.
“I feel super excited about my performance the other day,” Kristen said. “I went into it just focusing on what adjustments I needed to make on each individual event, so honestly, I didn’t even think about what the pent[athlon] score would total up to until it was over.”
Freshman thrower Jessica Oji returned to the Ott Center for the first time since her record-breaking collegiate debut last December. The Livingston, N.J. native performed like a seasoned professional, drawing a crowd of friends and fans alike to the throws area.
Oji bettered her own Ivy League record on the first lob, throwing over 18 meters for the first time in her collegiate career. She would go on to reset the Ivy League, facility, and meet record two more times over the next five throws. Her penultimate throw was the strongest of the afternoon, an 18.45 meter launch good for second in the NCAA and third in the world.
“Honestly, I just want to throw as far as I can,” Oji said. “I don’t like to limit myself to the number. Obviously, we do have a number that we’re thinking towards, but I don’t want to limit myself.”
Even Oji’s shortest throw — 17.28 meters — beat runner-up Maria Deaviz’s best throw by over half a meter.
“Her mental [changed the most since last meet],” throws coach Isaiah Simmons said. “Coach Johnson did a good job — he’s my volunteer coach. He’s done a great job with working on some breathing techniques and stuff with her … last meet, she was very anxious. [Today,] she had much more steadiness to her.”
The final program record performance came during the final event of the meet: the men’s 4x400 meter relay. The Ott Center was electric as spectators went to their feet to witness a dynamic back-and-forth bout between Princeton and Penn. Swift hand-offs defined the first two legs of the event, which saw junior runners Nayyir Newash-Campbell and Ryan Matulonis each run 46-second legs.
Freshman distance runner Joseph Socarras took the third leg in stride as the Tigers closed the one-second gap. A bad hand-off between Socarras and sophomore distance runner Ben Markham foreshadowed the finish that the Quakers desperately tried to stave off. Spongebob Squarepants’ Stadium Rave soundtracked the final lap as Markham made a valiant effort to overtake Princeton that ultimately ended in vain.
Although Kristen, Oji, and the men’s 4x400 squad stole the show, a number of other Quakers also had notable performances. Freshman sprinter Jailyn Milord stunned in her 400 meter debut, running a 54.43 to edge out UConn’s Anna Connors by a hundredth of a second at the line. Milord placed second overall in the event, but currently ranks first in the Ivy League and fiftieth in the nation.
Sophomore distance runner Quin Stovall showed out in her first 800 meter of the season, running a personal best 2:07.07 under the previous meet record for the bronze. Deep competition defined the women’s 800 meter as the race went down to the wire, with leads constantly shifting between the leading trio. Stovall’s performance leads the Ivy League and ranks 23rd in the NCAA at the time of writing.
“My goal going into the race was to be aggressive and really put myself in a position to win,” Stovall said. “And I felt I executed that really well. So I do have some takeaways for good things to work on, like my back end speed, but overall, I’m really happy with it.”
Senior sprinter Moforehan Abinusawa shined in her signature short sprints, earning a pair of runner-up finishes behind BYU’s Paje Rasmussen. Freshman sprinter Carson Edwards similarly shocked in the 200 meter, jumping to third place overall after being seeded in the seventh heat. Edwards was only beat by Penn State’s Ajani Dwyer and Princeton’s Jackson Clarke, whose finishes rank second and third in the NCAA, respectively.
Junior distance runner Sarah Fischer won the first section of the 3000 meter by three seconds to open the running events, while senior distance runner Anna Weirich finished ninth in the elite section of the 3000 meter later in the day. Socarras surged from eighth to sixth in his heat during the final laps of the mile, finishing in just over four minutes.
Many runners and field competitors look to build upon their performances as we enter the mid-season, focusing on the ultimate goal of bringing a competitive squad to Heps at the end of February. Next weekend, some of the Quakers face their first away meet of the season in Clemson, S.C., while others will defend the fort at the Ott Center at the Penn Invitational.
