The 2016 Indoor Ivy Heps Get Under Way Saturday at Cornell

2/25/2016 1:18:00 PM | Track and Field

By: Columbia University Athletics

NEW YORK - The 2016 Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships will take off this Saturday at Cornell, as the Columbia track & field teams will pursue conference supremacy.

Day two of the event, which will take place at Cornell's Barton Hall, will be live streamed on the Ivy League Digital Network. Saturday's field events will get started at 11 am, with running events getting under way at 11:15 am. Sunday will have an 11 am start time for field events, with running events beginning at noon, and the awards ceremony scheduled for 4:50 pm.

Men's Preview

The men's 1 Mile run should be one of the most exciting events this weekend, as three runners in the conference have posted a sub 4-minute mile this spring. Robert Napolitano is among the trio to have come in under four minutes, from when he and Cornell's James Gowans went toe-to-toe at the Fastrack National Invite. Gowans edged out Napolitano in 3:58.24, with the Columbia junior just behind him in 3:58.98. Penn's Thomas Awad leads the field with a 3:57.03, the fourth fastest time in country.

Along with his two Ivy League foes, Napolitano will attempt to chase down Kyle Merber's school record from 2010, at 3:58.52.

Napolitano's performance in the 1 Mile run is not to be outdone by his success in other races, as the Brick, New Jersey, native has the Ivy League's top time in the 1K run this season, and is third in the tightly-packed 800m run. A total of three runners will take part in the 800m for Columbia, as first-year Alek Sauer has the fastest time among the trio of Lions at 1:51.49. Sauer's classmate Josiah Langstaff will join him in the event with a season-best of 1:51.82, while Taylor Click will take part with a 1:53.65 season-best.

In the 1K run, Spencer Haik will hope to continue his success he has found at that distance in 2016, as the sophomore boasts the third fastest time in the conference this season at 2:25.73 from the Dartmouth tri-meet.

Although he has not taken part in the indoor 5K this season, Tait Rutherford will join Jack Boyle and Max Norris in the event this weekend. Rutherford's career-best of 14:11.41 in the outdoor version of the event would give him the second fastest time in the Ivy League at that distance this season.

The men will have any combination of up to eight runners in each of the three relays this weekend. The 4x400m relay could feature any four of Ronald Busby, Yelnats Calvin, Corey Hammond, Johnathan Sowah, Bryan Browne and Click. Those six are all participating in other events this weekend, as Browne will run in the 60m dash, Calvin will take part in the 400m, Busby, Hammond and Sowah are signed up for the 500m, and Click is in the aforementioned 800m.

A season ago, Columbia was triumphant in the 4x800m relay, with two returners from that team possibly participating in the event in Napolitano and Haik. Other Lions that may take part in the event are Langstaff, Sauer, Click, Tyler Otterstedt, Alexander Freemantle and Charlie Theiss.

Women's Preview

A runner-up a season ago in the 60m hurdles, senior Iris Chijioke will once again try to track down Harvard's Autumne Franklin in the event. During the 2015 Heps, Chijioke's school record of 8.46 was not enough to upset Franklin's meet record of 8.41. The Harvard senior has gone 8.42 this season, while Chijioke's best in 2016 is an 8.57 run.

Chijioke's classmate, Olivia Sadler, is an All-Ivy League hopeful in the 1 Mile run, boasting the fourth fastest time in the conference this season. At the Fastrack National Invite, Sadler clocked a season-best 4:43.45, right behind Penn's Ashley Montgomery. The senior's career-best of 4:40.92, which gave her a runner-up finish at the 2015 Indoor Heps, is not far behind the school record from Erin Gillingham in 2013 at 4:40.72.

Libby Kokes will join Sadler in the 1 Mile, as one of the top rookie's for the Lions this season. The Oregonian has clocked a 4:43.98 at the Villanova Invitational, the sixth fastest time in the conference this year.

In the triple jump, Anna Williams and Addy Sonaike will try to replace Nadia Eke's championship distance from a season ago. Williams has the third best mark in the event this year at 39'8”, while Sonaike is eighth at 38'11.75”. The two upperclassmen will also take part in the long jump this weekend.

The sprints will be led by Akua Obeng-Akrofi and Ashley Cunningham, who both will run the 60m dash and 200m dash. Cunningham's personal record of 23.83 in the 200m would give her the second fastest time in the conference this season, and is a mere .15 off the school record in the event from Sharay Hale in 2011.