Sophomore Hale places ninth in Florida Relays

In these nascent stages of its outdoor season, Columbia track and field has already seen competition in four separate states—California, Florida, Philadelphia, and New Jersey—and it has made its mark in each. Two spectacular 5k performances in Palo Alto from junior Jacqueline Drouin and freshman Caroline McDonough, were followed this weekend by strong debuts among distance and sprints alike at Princeton and Philadelphia.

League rival Princeton, hosted the Sam Howell Invitational on Friday night under excellent conditions, and the opportunity for top openers was apparent in the results. Both the men and women’s 1500m contingents especially turned in stellar debuts. Sophomore Kyle Merber picked up right where he left off indoors, with a 3:45.00 to win the men’s section. Junior Jeffrey Moriarity’s recovery from a winter riddled with injury, was writ large in his runner-up 3:45.76. Behind that 1-2 punch, Senior Bobby Hartnett returned to form with a sixth place 3:48.93. On the women’s side, Junior Erin Hays had a breakout run to take third in 4:27.12, with senior Serita Lachesis right behind with an equally top-notch 4:28.37.

Meanwhile, at the University of Pennsylvania Invitational in Philadelphia, sophomore Kyra Caldwell made a serious impression in the hurdles. A third place 14.56 time in the 100m, was followed by a 1:00.54 to win the 400m version of the event. Sophomore Monique Roberts took the high jump, albeit in a pedestrian 1.69m relative to her 1.82m best indoors. Also on the field, freshmen Uju Ofoche and Jocelyn Briggs went 2-3 in the long jump with marks of 5.61m and 5.52m, respectively. Men’s middle distance scored a coup winning the 4x800m in 7:49.30—senior William Ballenthin and sophomores Adam Behnke, John O’Loughlin, and Matthew Casey formed the relay team.

After an indoor campaign unprecedented within the University—indeed, in the Ivy League as well—sophomore Sharay Hale traveled solo down to Gainesville for the Florida Relays. She opened her season with 53.85 400m, finishing sixth in her heat and ninth overall.

Next up, split squads will travel to the University of North Carolina and George Mason University this weekend for the Carolina Classic and George Mason Invitational.