rpnn £ M jjif H THE WASTEBASKET Lou Duesing, Head Coach of Women Nathan Taylor, Head Coach of Men Athletic Field House By Artie Smith, Assistant Coach Winter 2000 Cross Country & Track Newsletter Track Teams Finish Indoor Season with Outstanding Dual Meet Records!!! The Cornell men's and women's track teams enjoyed one of their most successful indoor seasons in recent years, finishing with outstanding dual meet r e c o r d s . T h e m e n finished with a 9-0 mark, winning the Brown/Harvard and Yale/ Bucknell meets in the same season for the first time. The women were similarly i m p r e s s i v e , finishing with a 7-1 record, falling only to eventual Heps champion Harvard. In addition, the women's distance medley relay won the E C A C championship, qualifying provisionally for the NCAA meet. Both teams were successful because of the contributions of Cornell athletes across all event groups. The meet summaries in this issue highlight many of these remarkable performances. Freshman Brett C o f f i n g w o n the m e n ' s shot put with an effort of 15.21 meters. Fellow freshman Quinton Carew captured the 60 meter dash in 6.7. The men's long jumpers claimed places 1-3-4. Senior Nat Toothaker's fine early season jump of 7.21 meters placed first. The jumping crew was similarly impressive in the triple jump, taking places 1-4 with sophomore T o m m y Thothongkum in first with a leap o f 14.73 meters. Junior Colin M o o r e placed second in the mile, while classmate Doug Heulitt took second in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.2. Junior Chris Ondrak placed second in the 800 in 1:58.0 while classmate Grace Nwoku was runner-up in the w o m e n ' s 800 with a time of 2:16.1. Sophomore Halle Watson ran a strong race to grab second in the w o m e n ' s 1000 with a personal best o f 2:57.8 and senior Jamie Reed, in her first competition for the Big Red, was second in the pole vault. Senior Fred Merwarth ran to a second place finish in the 3000 meters as did senior Mandy De R o c h e in a personal best o f 10:21.5. Penn/St. Joseph's January 22,2000 Ithaca, NY Competing in Barton Hall for the first time in the new century, the men's team reversed some recent history by defeating Penn indoors for the first time in thirteen years while the women continued their winning ways against the Quakers. Garnering early points, senior Emily Germano opened up the meet by leading a 1-2-3 Big Red sweep in the 5000 meters while sophomore M a x King ran 15:16.87 to lead a 1-2-3-4 sweep for Cornell in the men's race. Sophomore Halle Watson ran another personal best in the w o m e n ' s mile to win in 5:10.74 and Fred Merwarth set a new personal record by running 4:21.9 to place second for the men. Freshmen Mandi Ruziecki and Caitlin Ramsey impressed with second (8.58) and third (8.83) place performances, respectively, in the 55 Meter High hurdles. Senior captain Dave Wynn (7.79) and sophomore Doug Heulitt (7.87) were second and third for the men in the high hurdles. Senior captain Catherine Regan was impressive in the w o m e n ' s 400, winning comfortably in 58.00 and the 200 in 26.24, while Benita Gateman finished strong to grab second in the 500. Junior Erik Nakutavicius was edged out for first by one-hundredth of a second in the 500, but still managed 1:06.01. Freshman Skye Jate and Quinton Carew ran like mature veterans in the 55 meter dash with Jaye taking first in 7.39 and Carew netting second in a hand-timed 6.2. Grace Nwoku (2:14.5) and Meredith Freimer (2:15.5) went 1-2 in the w o m e n ' s 800 while junior Richard Menzies (1:57.05) and junior Chris Ondrak (1:57.57) did the same for the men. Freshman Elizabeth Paddock ran a personal best 3:04.28 to take second in the w o m e n ' s 1000 as did junior Colin M o o r e with a 2:29.47. Taking third for the Big Red in the men's 1000, freshman Joe Lamagna ran an impressive personal best of 2:31.77. Senior Mandy D e R o c h e w o n her first college race in the 3000, running 10:20.63 and Ryan Raffa captured the men's race in 8:46.46. In the field events, Karen Chastain won both the weight (16.39 meters) and the shot put (13.07 meters) while Jeremy Blanchet took second the men's weight with 17.33 meters. T o m m y Thothongkum won the long jump with 7.13 meters and J.P. Pollack took the triple j u m p with a 14.94 meter performance. At Harvard with Brown January 29,2000 Cambridge, MA Traditionally a highly competitive and intense early season battle, the track teams travelled to Cambridge intent not only on strong performances at Harvard's facility but on keeping their undefeated dual-meet records intact. The Harvard women would prove too tough as Cornell finished second, 13 points behind the Crimson but 16 ahead of Brown. The men's competition came down to the final relays, with the Big R e d coming out a hard-fought victor with 62 points and winning the meet for the first time since its inception in 1995. Harvard f o l l o w e d with 61 and Brown netted 47. The Red was led by junior Colin Moore, who closed the gap on his competitors in the final 800 meters to run an impressive 4:08.4 to claim victory in the mile. Other winners included Jeremy Blanchet in the weight throw with a toss of 17.16 meters and T o m m y Thothongkum in the long j u m p with a leap o f 7.04 meters. Brett Coffing took the shot with a put of 14.97 meters and sophomore Scott Lundy took home his first collegiate victory with a vault of 4.50 meters. The team victory was secured by a number of strong second, third and fourth place performances, chief among them Fred Merwarth's fine 8:27 in the 3000 and D o u g Heulitt's second place in the high hurdles. On the women's side, senior Mandy D e Roche continued her impressive running with a personal best 10:02.61 in wining the 3000 while junior Danielle Brown opened her season with a victory in the long jump (5.51 meters) and the triple j u m p (12.38 meters). Garnering valuable points for the Red were juniors Meredith Freimer (2nd, 5:00.70) and Kim Chatman (3rd, 5:03.58), Catherine Regan in the 400 (2nd, 57.24), freshman Skye Jae in the 60 meter days (2nd, 7.93) junior Grace N w o k u (2nd, 2:13.94) and sophomore Halle Watson (3rd, 2:14.75) in the 800, and junior captain Karen Chastain in the weight throw (2nd, 16.33 meters). Yale/Bucknell February 5,2000 Ithaca, NY Another traditionally hard-fought contest, this February 11-12, 2000 CAN-AM Invite at Cornell Cannon IV Indoor Classic at Butler Univer- sity year's Yale-Bucknell meet lived up to its billing for the sixth straight year. Cornell came out on the winning end Penn State National Invitational and the men ended their dual meet season an impressive 9 0 while the women closed out their season 7-1. Senior Fred Merwarth ran an ambitious 5000 meters, taking third in a personal best of 14:50.20, while sophomore M a x King earned important points in the mile with a third-place and personal-best effort of 4:21.00. Juniors Meredith Freimer (5:00.66) and Kim Chatman (5:01.52) went 1-2 in the women's mile while freshmen Caitlin Ramsey (8.59) and Mandi Ruziecki (8.62) took the same spots in the 55 hurdles. Senior Dave Wynn and junior Doug Heulitt racked up big points by taking first W h i l e the bulk o f the track teams stayed in the warm confines of Barton Hall, two groups of Cornellians travelled to national invitationals to attempt to gamer NCAA-qualifying performances. At Cornell, winners included sophomore M a x King in the 5000 (15:08.47), sophomore Halle Watson (5:03.70) in the mile, Dave W y n n in the 55 Meter Hurdles (7.5), junior Chris Kellet in the 800 (1:57.42), Richard Menzies in the 1000 (2:30.44), freshman Christine Diaz in the 3000 (10:35.30), Karen Chastain in the weight (16.32 meters) and the shot (13.50 meters), Nick Senter (6.90 meters) in the and second in the men's 55 hurdle long jump, Matt Sarli in the high jump final while Quinton Carew contin- (1.91 meters), Jill Schleiffer- ued his impressive freshman Schneggenburger in the women's campaign with a victory in the 55 pentathlon (3363 points) and Marco meter dash in 6.61. Cornell's jumpers continued to impress: Junior Danielle Brown captured the triple jump with a performance of 12.00 meters and J.P. Pollack w o n both the long jump (7.17 meters) and triple jump (14.65 meters). B o y c e in the men's pentathlon (3259 points). Other impressive performances included sophomore Sarah Spain in the pentathlon (3340) and freshman Elizabeth Paddock's third in the mile (5:12.29). Junior Peter Ippell won the high Elsewhere, some o f Cornell's best jump with a mark of 1.91 meters travelled to new, state-of-the-art facili- while sophomore Laura Jordan did ties to test themselves against the the same for the women (1.59 nation's best. At the Butler's prestigious meters). Sophomore Halle Watson Cannon IV Indoor Classic, the women's ran away from the field to another D M R of Meredith Freimer (3:33 for personal best (2:57.24) in the 1000, 1200), Catherine Regan (55 split for and Kim Chatman outkicked her 400), Grace N w o k u (2:12 for 800) and competitors to take second. On the Kim Chatman (4:54 for 1600) men's side, Colin Moore ran an missed the N C A A provisional impressive 2:27.88 to run away Sophomore Tommy Thothongkum mark by only a second running a with the victory. Sophomore very impressive 11:37.03 to take Jeremy Blanchet (16.82 meters) and junior Brit Holmbert sixth. Junior Colin Moore ran (16.24) went 1-2 in the men's weight throw and freshman 4:07.54 (#4 all-time at Cornell) to take second in a very Brett Coffing captured the shot put with a mark of 15.85 competitive m e n ' s mile field. In their individual events, meter. Juniors Richard Menzies (1:57.02) and Grace Regan (58.59), N w o k u (2:14.19) and Freimer (4:57.98) and Nwoku (2:18.15) took second in their respective 800 meter Chatman (4:58.32) acquitted themselves well the day after races. Stepping onto the track, senior Nat Toothaker took their relay effort. second in the 200 meters in 22.81, recording the same time Competing at Penn State, Coach Nathan Taylor's as third-place teammate Quinton Carew. Karen Chastain jumpers turned some heads with strong performances from took seond in both the weight throw (16.73 meters) and junior Danielle B r o w n in the long j u m p (5.60 meters) and won the shot put (14.02 meters). In taking second in the senior Nat Toothaker (7.01 meters). Senior J.P. Pollack pole vault, senior Jamie Reed set a school indoor record t o o k fifth in the m e n ' s long jump (7.13 meters) and was the with a mark of 3.21 meters. first collegian in the triple jump with the fifth best all-time j u m p at Cornell. Kane Invitational February 19,2000 Ithaca, NY Despite dangerously icy conditions on the roads leading into Ithaca, the Kane Invitational boasted 20 teams and over 800 athletes with many Cornellians competing in different events as a final tune-up before the Heps. Impressive performers for the Big Red included freshmen Skye Jaye's (7.41) and Conneil Arnold (7.44) 1-2 in the 55 Dash as well as Quinton Carew's third place effort o f 6.50 for the men. Senior Jamie Reed put her own school record even further up the charts with a vault of 3.40 meters (over 11 feet). Sophomore T o m m y Thothngkum won the triple jump with a leap of 14.54 meters. Junior Brit Holmberg took the men's weight with a throw of 16.20 meters. A personal best by freshman Christine Diaz in third place (5:16.84) highlighted the women's mile, while Kim Chatman (2:53.42) and Meredith Freimer (2:55.32) ran away from the field in the w o m e n ' s 1000. Grace Nwoku (2:13.35) and Halle Watson (2:14.41) looked ready for the Heps, easily running away from the rest o f the pack in the 800. Junior Chris Ondrak w o n the 800 in 1:54.88 and Jaye doubled back with a win in the 200 (26.03). Emily Germano prepped for the Heps by winning the 3000 inl0:03.05. Sophomore Jeremy Blanchet Heptagonal Championships at Dartmouth February 26-27, 2000 Hanover, NH Heading to Hanover with high hopes and outstanding dual meet records, the Cornell track teams both improved on last year's finishes. The men quickly set the tone for a successful weekend by scoring 1-2-5-6 in the meet's opening event, the long jump. Senior Nat Toothaker led the way with his first Heps championship, jumping a personal best 7.31 meters. J.P. Pollack grabbed second with a mark o f 7.21 meters with sophomore Tommy Thothongkum and junior Nick Senter grabbing the other scoring spots. Sophomore Jeremy Blanchet immediately followed up these performances with a fifth place throw o f 16.95 meters in the weight, putting Cornell into the lead after two events. M a r c o B o y c e grabbed fifth in the pentathlon with 3379 points. A l s o running impressively on Saturday was junior Colin Moore, junior Chris Ondrak, freshman Quinton Carew, junior Doug Heulitt and senior Dave Wynn who all qualified for Sunday's finals. On the women's side, Skye Jaye, Catherine Regan, Kim Chatman, Meredith Freimer, Grace Nwoku, Halle Watson all qualified for Sunday's finals. Danielle Brown grabbed a fifth place in the women's long jump and Karen Chastain was third in the Weight Throw (16.50 meters). The highlight of the day, however, was senior Emily Germano's run of 17:10.16 to easily win the 5000 by over 15 seconds. Sunday's finals were underway with a highly competitive men's mile final. Colin Moore made a big move, taking the lead 300 meters f r o m the finish but finished fifth in 4:08.63. In the very next event, junior Kim Chatman stormed away from the field after 800 meters to take her first Heps title in a personal best 4:50.10. Chris Ondrak scored points with a fifth place 1:55.33. Doug Heulitt grabbed sixth in the 55 Hurdles while Quinton Carew was an impressive fourth in 6.49. The men's triple jumpers continued their strong performances with J.P. Pollack following up his second place in the long jump with a third in the triple jump while NealOkarter took sixth. Peter Ippell took fifth in the high jump with a leap of 2.01 meters. Mandy De Roche ran a personal best 9:56.91 to take 5th in the 3000 while Danielle Brown saved her best for her final j u m p to take second in the triple jump (12.38 meters). Karen Chastain was second Junior Kim Chatman in the shot put (14.01 meters). Catherine Regan ran tough to get third in the 4 0 0 meters (57.08) and anchored the 4 X 4 0 0 to third place as well. The w o m e n ' s 4 X 8 0 0 o f freshman Natalie Whelan, junior Grace Nwoku, Meredith Freimer and sophomore Halle Watson ran 9:02.40 to take second. In the end, both teams improved on last year's finishes with the women taking third place with 69 points behind Harvard and Brown. The men improved on last year's tie for eighth to take seventh with 42 points. IC4A/ECAC Championships March 4-5 Boston, Mass Ending the season on a high note, the Cornell Track teams boasted a number of outstanding all-East performances, as well as some impressive national-caliber marks. At the E C A C s , the women's Distance Medley Relay of Halle Watson (3:31 for 1200), Catherine Regan (55 split for 400), Grace Nwoku (2:11 for 8 0 0 ) and Kim Chatman (4:48 for 1600) captured the championship with an outstanding run of 11:28.51. The team provisionally qualified for N C A A s and was only four seconds removed from a trip to the N C A A meet. In the women's 500, senior captain Catherine Regan set a school record of 1:13.52 in qualifying for the finals and placed fifth on Sunday. On the men's side, senior J.P. Pollack placed second with a big personal best and N C A A provisional mark in the triple jump with a leap of 15.73 meters. Junior Colin M o o r e qualified for the final in the men's mile and raced to a fifth place performance of 4:09.58. W e would love to continue expanding this space with more alumni news! If you haven't written in a while, please get in touch to tell us what y o u are up to! Y o u can e-mail alumni updates to Artie Smith at acsl @cornell.edu, or write him at the Cornell Track Office, Teagle Hall, Campus Road, Ithaca, NY 14853. Let's Get Connected! The Cornell Track Association has established a listserve to facilitate conversation and communication among alumni about Cornell track and cross country. If you've already subscribed, tell your teammates to get on line with us! If you haven't subscribed and are interested, follow the instructions below to get connected! 1. Send an e-mail to: listproc@cornell.edu 2. In the body of the e-mail write: subscribe CornellTrackAssociation-L [your name)[graduation year] for example: subscribe ComellTrackAssociation-L John Doe '76 Any questions? Call Artie Smith at 607-255-9782 or e-mail him at acsl@comell.edu. See you in cyberspace! Change in Outdoor Schedule: The outdoor Heptagonal Champsionships were originally scheduled to be held at Navy but will n o w be at Penn the weekend o f May 13-14. A l s o , after seven years at George Mason the outdoor E C A C / I C 4 A meet will be held at Princeton University the weekend o f M a y 19-20. W e hope many of you will come out to support the team!! Junior Colin Moore New Cornell Athletics Web-Page: Visit www. CornellB igRed. com for the Cornell Athletics new and improved web-site. Check out complete results from each track meet as wll as updated news and highlights from all Cornell sports contests. MARC DENAULT: In Memoriam The Cornell track family tragically lost one o f its own in a car accident near Cobleskill, N e w York on December 18, 1999. Sprinter Marc Denault was remembered by family and many Cornellians at funeral services in December and at a memorial service February 6th at Sage Chapel. Marc's twin brother Rich, also a sprinter for the Big Red, is not competing this spring, but has remained a vital part o f the team this indoor season as a team manager. Described as one of the team's "brightest lights," Denault was remembered in emotional and fond terms by teammates and family at both memorial services. His leadership, selflessness, work-ethic and positive personality will be missed everyday. A major contributor on the track, Marc scored three times as a sophomore at the Heps and was a valuable relay runner, handing o f f to his brother Rich on the 4 X 1 0 0 team that earned A l l East honors. His l o v e o f the sport, his teammates and his University as well as his genuine enthusiasm for life will truly be missed by all w h o knew him. His event coach, Rich Bowman, described Marc as "a leader w h o was trying to raised the men's team performances to a new level. It's just really hard to see this happen to a great guy like him." W o m e n ' s head coach L o u Duesing remembered Marc as "a good kid in every sense o f the word. He worked hard as a student. He worked hard in his j o b on campus. He worked hard as an athlete. He obviously had great parents because he was a gentlemen. Very polite. Very respectful of his peers and coaches. He was doing well athletically and he was doing very well academically." At Duesing's request, a sugar maple tree, suggestive o f M a r c ' s Canadian roots, will be planted at the 200-meter mark of Alumni Field in memory o f his accomplishments in the 200 meter event. In addition, the men's and women's track teams will be wearing black ribbons on the shoulder of their uniforms in his memory until the end of the season. Marc Denault hands off to his brother Rich in the 4X100 at last year's Penn Relays. C jigp^ s s e p 4SJij ^ I F H 91Seax A}ISI9AIUfl JJBUJO;} Ajjurio;} SSO.Q />pEix CORNELL ATHLETICS ANNUAL FUND f99-f00 MY PLEDGE IS $ I I Use my gift for Athletics General Fund • PHONATHON PLEDGE ENCLOSED IS $ Plus a matching gift from my employer $ Employer ^Matching gift form enclosed • Allocate my gift for use by: Sport(s) Track and Cross Country