2017 Ivy League Outdoor ChampionshipsMay 5, 2017 by Dennis Young
The Six Best Events To Watch At The Ivy League Championships
The Six Best Events To Watch At The Ivy League Championships
These are the six best events to watch at the 2017 Ivy League Outdoor Championships.
The 2017 Ivy League Outdoor Championships are live on FloTrack this weekend on Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7. We'll have a preview of the team battles coming soon, but these are the top individual events to watch. All times listed are Eastern and all track finals except for the 10K are on Sunday, May 7. You can find a full schedule here.
Men's and women's hammer
​When: 11:00 AM (women) and 1:30 PM (men) Saturday
​​​​Who: ​Rudy Winkler and Julia Ratcliffe​
​Why: ​Ratcliffe redshirted ​last year after finishing second for Princeton at NCAAs in 2015 and winning NCAAs in 2014. It was a productive redshirt year--she broke the New Zealand national record at 70.75 meters last summer. Her current SB of 68.05m ranks second in the NCAA, but she could easily win a second national title in Eugene next month. She won Heps titles in the hammer in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Winkler, a Cornell senior, also ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this year. He finished fourth in the weight throw at NCAA indoors, and second in the hammer last June. His 76.76m throw at last summer's Olympic Trials was good enough to win and qualify for the Olympics, where he finished 18th. He's won the last two Ivy League titles.
Women's steeplechase
​When: ​11:15 AM Sunday
Who: Meredith Rizzo, Elizabeth Bird, Briar Brumley
Why: The Ivy League is one of the deepest women's steeple conferences in the country, as Rizzo, Bird, and Brumley all rank in the top 25 nationally. All three raced at the Larry Ellis Invitational two weeks ago, where Rizzo led Bird and Brumley to an Ivy sweep. Bird is the top returner to Heps after placing third last year, while Rizzo has had a breakout year in returning to the steeple after sticking to flat track events in 2015 and 2016. Rizzo is the speediest of the group, with PBs of 2:11.57 for 800m and 4:24.87 for 1500m, though Bird has the best steeple mark at 9:54.76 and is the only athlete of the trio to make the NCAA Outdoor Championships -- she was 22nd in the steeple in 2015.
With season bests at 10:07 and 10:09, Rizzo and Bird could push the field to sub-10:00 to make sure there's more Ivy League representation at NCAA regionals and the big dance in June. Keep a close eye on that clock -- the Heps Championship Record is 9:59.80, set by Dartmouth's Alexi Pappas in 2012.
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Men's 1500m
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When: ​12:50 PM Sunday
Who: ​William Paulson, James Randon, Chris Hatler, James Gowans, Rob Napolitano, Garrett O'Toole
Why: Paulson, Randon, Hatler, Gowans, and Napolitano have all run 3:43.50 or faster this year, while O'Toole ran 3:41 last year. The competitive balance and depth up front here should make for an extremely entertaining race. Randon, Napolitano, Gowans, O'Toole, and Hatler were the top five finishers outdoors last year, while Hatler, Napolitano, and Gowans were the top three finishers indoors. In other words--- these six could finish in any order on Sunday.
Women's 100m and 200m
​When: ​1:45 PM (100) and 2:35 PM (200) Sunday
​Who: ​Gabrielle Thomas
​Why: Harvard's Gabrielle Thomas is one of the best sprinters in Ivy League history and secretly one of the best sprinters in the country. She set the meet records in the 100 and 200 at last year's championship, and set league records in both events in late March. As just a freshman, she finished third at NCAAs in the 200 meters and advanced to the 200 final at the Olympic Trials, where she finished sixth.
Women's 400m hurdles
​When: ​2:15 PM Sunday​
​Who: ​Jade Miller​
​Why: ​Along with Thomas, Miller is part of a historically strong sprint group at Harvard. Her 56.41 season best ranks eighth in the NCAA this year, but she's more talented than that. She's run 55.75 and took bronze at world juniors after her freshman year. Miller has a heavy load this weekend--she's also entered in the 100 hurdles and 4x100m and 4x400m relays. But she's the top seed by a second and a half, and should win her first Ivy 400 hurdles title since her freshman year. Miller won as a freshman, was fifth as a sophomore, and second last year.
When: 2:45 PM Sunday
Who: Henna Rustami, Judy Pendergast, Ashley Montgomery, Clarissa Whiting
Why: The field could have a shot at American distance running legend Lynn Jenning's 1983 Championship Record of 16:10.93. 2016 runner-up Henna Rustami of Columbia has run 15:59.79 this year, while indoor Heps champion Judy Pendergast, the freshman from Harvard, clocked 15:52.64 indoors. Also under the record time this year is Rustami's teammate and fellow senior, Natalie Tanner, who was third here last year, 15th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and lowered her PB to 16:04.65 at the Stanford Invitational -- but, is not included on the final entries. Instead of a Columbia sweep, it looks like Ashley Montgomery and Clarissa Whiting could score major points here for Penn. Montgomery, a senior, is the No. 2 seed in the 1500m and No. 3 seed in the 5K. She's run 16:14 this year, though her PB is 16:08 from last year. She's got 4:17 1500m and 2:10 800m leg speed, but Rustami split 4:36.98 on the anchor leg of Columbia's DMR to convincingly beat Penn at Penn Relays. Whiting has run 16:20 this year.
Men's and women's hammer
​When: 11:00 AM (women) and 1:30 PM (men) Saturday
​​​​Who: ​Rudy Winkler and Julia Ratcliffe​
​Why: ​Ratcliffe redshirted ​last year after finishing second for Princeton at NCAAs in 2015 and winning NCAAs in 2014. It was a productive redshirt year--she broke the New Zealand national record at 70.75 meters last summer. Her current SB of 68.05m ranks second in the NCAA, but she could easily win a second national title in Eugene next month. She won Heps titles in the hammer in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Winkler, a Cornell senior, also ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this year. He finished fourth in the weight throw at NCAA indoors, and second in the hammer last June. His 76.76m throw at last summer's Olympic Trials was good enough to win and qualify for the Olympics, where he finished 18th. He's won the last two Ivy League titles.
Women's steeplechase
​When: ​11:15 AM Sunday
Who: Meredith Rizzo, Elizabeth Bird, Briar Brumley
Why: The Ivy League is one of the deepest women's steeple conferences in the country, as Rizzo, Bird, and Brumley all rank in the top 25 nationally. All three raced at the Larry Ellis Invitational two weeks ago, where Rizzo led Bird and Brumley to an Ivy sweep. Bird is the top returner to Heps after placing third last year, while Rizzo has had a breakout year in returning to the steeple after sticking to flat track events in 2015 and 2016. Rizzo is the speediest of the group, with PBs of 2:11.57 for 800m and 4:24.87 for 1500m, though Bird has the best steeple mark at 9:54.76 and is the only athlete of the trio to make the NCAA Outdoor Championships -- she was 22nd in the steeple in 2015.
With season bests at 10:07 and 10:09, Rizzo and Bird could push the field to sub-10:00 to make sure there's more Ivy League representation at NCAA regionals and the big dance in June. Keep a close eye on that clock -- the Heps Championship Record is 9:59.80, set by Dartmouth's Alexi Pappas in 2012.
​
Men's 1500m
​When: ​12:50 PM Sunday
Who: ​William Paulson, James Randon, Chris Hatler, James Gowans, Rob Napolitano, Garrett O'Toole
Why: Paulson, Randon, Hatler, Gowans, and Napolitano have all run 3:43.50 or faster this year, while O'Toole ran 3:41 last year. The competitive balance and depth up front here should make for an extremely entertaining race. Randon, Napolitano, Gowans, O'Toole, and Hatler were the top five finishers outdoors last year, while Hatler, Napolitano, and Gowans were the top three finishers indoors. In other words--- these six could finish in any order on Sunday.
Women's 100m and 200m
​When: ​1:45 PM (100) and 2:35 PM (200) Sunday
​Who: ​Gabrielle Thomas
​Why: Harvard's Gabrielle Thomas is one of the best sprinters in Ivy League history and secretly one of the best sprinters in the country. She set the meet records in the 100 and 200 at last year's championship, and set league records in both events in late March. As just a freshman, she finished third at NCAAs in the 200 meters and advanced to the 200 final at the Olympic Trials, where she finished sixth.
Women's 400m hurdles
​When: ​2:15 PM Sunday​
​Who: ​Jade Miller​
​Why: ​Along with Thomas, Miller is part of a historically strong sprint group at Harvard. Her 56.41 season best ranks eighth in the NCAA this year, but she's more talented than that. She's run 55.75 and took bronze at world juniors after her freshman year. Miller has a heavy load this weekend--she's also entered in the 100 hurdles and 4x100m and 4x400m relays. But she's the top seed by a second and a half, and should win her first Ivy 400 hurdles title since her freshman year. Miller won as a freshman, was fifth as a sophomore, and second last year.
Women's 5K
When: 2:45 PM Sunday
Who: Henna Rustami, Judy Pendergast, Ashley Montgomery, Clarissa Whiting
Why: The field could have a shot at American distance running legend Lynn Jenning's 1983 Championship Record of 16:10.93. 2016 runner-up Henna Rustami of Columbia has run 15:59.79 this year, while indoor Heps champion Judy Pendergast, the freshman from Harvard, clocked 15:52.64 indoors. Also under the record time this year is Rustami's teammate and fellow senior, Natalie Tanner, who was third here last year, 15th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and lowered her PB to 16:04.65 at the Stanford Invitational -- but, is not included on the final entries. Instead of a Columbia sweep, it looks like Ashley Montgomery and Clarissa Whiting could score major points here for Penn. Montgomery, a senior, is the No. 2 seed in the 1500m and No. 3 seed in the 5K. She's run 16:14 this year, though her PB is 16:08 from last year. She's got 4:17 1500m and 2:10 800m leg speed, but Rustami split 4:36.98 on the anchor leg of Columbia's DMR to convincingly beat Penn at Penn Relays. Whiting has run 16:20 this year.