Track and Field Heads to Princeton for Annual HYP Meet

Pictured: Justin Grinstead qualified for the IC4A meet in the 500 meter run
Photo Credit: DSpics.com

The Particulars:
After capturing both the men’s and women’s titles at the Battle of Beantown last weekend, the Harvard men’s and women’s track and field teams travel to Princeton, N.J., to take on Yale and Princeton in the annual H-Y-P meet Saturday, Feb. 13. Saturday’s event marks the 56th time the men’s H-Y-P meet will be contested while the women will be competing in the 31st women’s H-Y-P event.

The History of the H-Y-P Meet:
The first men’s Harvard-Yale-Princeton indoor track meet took place in 1953 and was run every year until 2002. Harvard was victorious for the first time in 1956 and has won 22 H-Y-P meets overall, including 12 out of 13 from 1962-1974. Princeton did not compete in the Big Three meet from 2001-02 to 2003-04, but is competing in the series again and has won the meet 25 times, including the last 18. The Crimson last captured the title in 1983.

The women first competed in the H-Y-P meet in 1979 with Harvard taking the first ever title. Like the men, Princeton holds the mark for most wins in the meet with 15 while Harvard is just two back at 13 after capturing last year’s title.

Last Time Out:
Harvard captured the men’s and women’s titles at the third annual Battle of Beantown Feb. 6 at Gordon Indoor Track.

The men captured the meet win for the second year in a row, posting a score of 166 to top Boston University (119), Boston College (117) and Northeastern (102). The women dethroned two-time defending champion Boston College with a final score of 137, besting the Eagles (131), Huskies (121) and Terriers (118) for their first title at the event.

The men captured six event wins on the afternoon, led by freshman Kenneth Wang Kan who won the long jump (6.93 meters) and triple jump (14.37), posting an IC4A qualifying mark in the latter. The women took three event wins on the afternoon, starting with Olivia Weeks’ win in the triple jump with a mark of 11.96 meters.

Scouting the Field:
The Princeton men’s team has had a solid season in 2009-10, grabbing wins at the Navy Invitational, the NYRR Saturday Night at the Armory event and the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup. In their last time out, the men were lead to victory by sophomore Austin Hollimon, who captured the 400 meter dash with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 47.03. Junior Kyle Soloff continued his dominance in the mile, taking his fourth title of the year in the event with a time of 4:08.28.

The Princeton women have seen a number of strong individual performances so far this season, and turned in an eighth-place finish at the Sykes-Sabock meet last weekend. Freshman Tory Worthen captured the pole vault title with a clearance of 3.97 meter while junior Thanithia Billings recorded a new personal best in the weight throw, finishing third with a mark of 17.40 meters. Billings also took second in the shot put with a distance of 14.21 meters.

Both the Yale men’s and women’s teams are coming off strong showings in the Giegengack Invitational, hosted by the Bulldogs last weekend. The men saw a number of personal records fall during the two-day event, fronted by Jeff Perrella (3,000 meter run, 8:18.69) and Conor Dooney (mile run, 4:12.36) who both posted IC4A qualifying times. On the women’s side, the relays teams shined at the Coxe Cage event with the distance medley relay team capturing the title on day one of the meet. The Bulldogs took home some hardware on day two as well, taking the title in the 4x400 meter relay. On the individual side, junior Kate Grace won the 800 meter run with an ECAC qualifying time of 2:11.80.

Qualified to Compete:
The men and women have had 14 athletes qualify for the IC4A/ECAC Championships in 11 events. Jack Brady has punched his ticket to compete in the shot put and weight throw while sophomore Steven Geloneck has recorded qualifying times in the 55 meter and 60 meter dashes. Darcy Wilson earned a spot in the field for the 1,000 meter and 800 meter runs after recording IC4A qualifying marks while Brian Hill (800m, 500m), Justin Grinstead (500m) and John Dingus (500m) attained IC4A status as well. Kenneth Wang Kan also qualified in the triple jump with a distance of 14.37 meters. On the women’s side, Ashtynn Baltimore qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 60 meter hurdles at the Harvard Invitational and Carlyle Davis (800m) and Eliva Ives (5,000m) both qualified at the Terrier Invitational. The women’s 4x440 yard relay team also qualified for ECAC’s with a time of 3:51.13 at the Battle of Beantown last week.

Provisions:
Ashtynn Baltimore became the first Harvard athlete of the 2009-10 indoor season to attain an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, finishing second in the 60 meter hurdles at the Battle of Beantown with a time of 8.43.

Coming Attraction:
The Crimson takes a week off after the H-Y-P meet and then returns to action at the Heptagonal Championships, hosted by Dartmouth Feb. 27-28.