The Cornell women’s track and field team advanced six athletes to Sunday finals and secured two podium finishes on May 16 during the opening day of the Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Princeton University.
The competition matters for Cornell as it marks a key test against other Ivy League programs, with strong performances in both field and track events. The results set up several Big Red athletes for potential top placements in Sunday’s finals.
Junior Avery Hastings earned third place in the hammer throw with a mark of 56.92 meters. Freshman Gabriella Vizcarrondo broke the Cornell freshman record in the event, finishing sixth with a personal-best throw of 55.52 meters, which also moved her to No. 3 all-time in program history. In pole vault, junior Avery Hilliard took second after clearing a season-best height of 4.28 meters, while Lauren Cashman finished sixth at 3.88 meters.
On the track, sophomore Fiona Lee qualified for the final round of the 1500-meter run with a personal-best time of 4:25.74. Freshman Divine Bamgboye advanced to the final in the 100-meter hurdles by posting a time of 13.85 seconds.
Juniors Francine Stevens and Rachel Bethke both reached Sunday’s final in the 400 meters with times of 54.53 and 54.68 seconds respectively. Senior Katja Jackson (2:08.20) and freshman Sophia Comfere (2:08.67) also made it to Sunday’s final round in the women’s 800 meters.
Senior Paula-Marie Brown led after four events in heptathlon standings with a total score of 2,533 points following notable performances across multiple disciplines including hurdles, high jump, shot put, and sprints; she is now ranked No.5 all-time at Cornell for her hurdles result on Saturday.
“Overall they battled really well in the heat and chaos of Heps,” Cornell head coach Mike Henderson said.”We are excited to have multiple finalists in several events tomorrow and looking forward to another great day of competition.”
