No. 24 Lion Women Complete Three-Peat; Vasbinder Takes The Title At Ivy League XC Heps

Friday, November 1

Bronx, N.Y.

11:00 a.m.

Columbia

Ivy League Cross Country Heps

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/David Collins

No. 24 Lion Women Complete Three-Peat; Vasbinder Takes The Title At Ivy League XC Heps

11/1/2019 3:27:00 PM | Cross Country

Women's Results Men's Results Photo Gallery Post Race interview (Coach Ireland)Post Race Interview (Wasserman)Post Race Interview (Vasbinder)Post Race Interview (Hays)

The No. 24 Columbia women won their third straight Ivy League Heps title while senior Kenny Vasbinder won the men's individual title at the 2019 Ivy League Cross Country Heps.

BRONX, N.Y. – CHAMPIONS ON CHAMPIONS!!!

The No. 24 Columbia Cross Country women, aiming for their third-straight Ivy League Cross Country Heps title, achieved their goal taking the overall title for the third straight season, while on the men's side, senior Kenny Vasbinder, who has been on fire all season long, wrapped up his Ivy League Heps career by taking the 5-mile individual title, finishing with a personal best time of 24:32.0 to give Columbia its first individual men's Heps title since 2017, at the 2019 Ivy League Cross Country Heps Championships run at Van Cortlandt Park.

Columbia's women won their seventh Ivy League title all-time and their third straight title is now the longest consecutive title streak on the women's side in the league since Princeton won five straight from 2006-10. As for Vasbinder, his title is the first individual Heps title for the Lions since Ryan Thomas took home the silverware in 2017.

HOW THE WOMEN FINISHED: Columbia's women were solid from top to bottom, with five Lions finishing inside the top 20 to secure their third straight title. Senior Katie Wasserman, running her final race at VCP, crossed the line in second place, just behind the first-place finisher from Yale, clocking in at 20:49.2 to set the pace for the Lions. Junior Allie Hays, who ran a solid race in her own right, gave Columbia a second, top 10 finisher, coming in at eighth place with a time of 21:19.7 as Columbia began to rack up the points.

Senior Emily Acker then started to build the title winning foundation, coming in 12th with a time of 21:32.7, finishing with a time of 21:32.7, and right behind her crossing in 16th place was senior Bianca Alonzo, who ran arguably her best race of the season, finishing with a time of 21:41.3. Rounding out Columbia's top 20 finishers was sophomore Sofia Camacho, who has come out of nowhere this season to be a force for the Lions, as she came in at 19th with a time of 21:55.5 to help Columbia rack up 57 points, beating out the next best finishers which was Harvard and Penn who both finished with 89 total team points to give the Lions a commanding team victory.

HOW THE MEN FINISHED: Vasbinder was the star for the Lions, but he was not alone in providing the Lions with something to hang their hats on as first-year Tyler Berg ran his best race as Lion, finishing fourth overall with a time of 24:46.4, to give Columbia two in the top five. Vasbinder's title, which he collected with a time of 24:32.0, was a dominating performance, as he was six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher and was in command of the race from the word go.

Both Vasbinder and Berg were not alone in having solid days for the Lions, as sophomore David Vorbach crossed the line in 25:05.7, good enough for a 13th place finish, locking up three top 15 finishers for the Lions on the day. As for the team, they finished fourth overall, the best finish since a second-place finish in 2017, and besides the three top 15 finishers, the Lions had one more finish inside the top 30 as sophomore Pat Bayeux crossed in 30th place with a time of 25:38.0.

ALL-IVY: Thanks to Columbia's solid finishes, they collected six total All-Ivy awards with three for the women and three for the men.

Women's First-Team All-Ivy
Kayley Delay – Yale
Katie Wasserman – Columbia
Anna Juul – Harvard
Madeline Villalba – Penn
Taylor Knibb – Cornell
Melia Chittenden – Princeton
Jane Miller – Yale

Women's Second-Team All-Ivy
Allie Hays – Columbia
Hannah Butler – Brown
Samantha Valentine – Brown
Page Lester – Princeton
Emily Acker – Columbia
Ariana Gardizy – Penn
Nia Akins – Penn

Men's First-Team All-Ivy
Kenny Vasbinder – Columbia
Anthony Russo – Penn
Robert Miranda – Yale
Tyler Berg – Columbia
Camren Fischer – Princeton
Conor Lundy – Princeton

Men's Second-Team All-Ivy
Colin Baker – Harvard
Cameron Daly – Brown
William Daly – Penn
Kieran Tuntivate – Harvard
Matthew Pereire – Harvard
David Vorbach – Columbia
Ryan Renken – Penn

COLUMBIA RESULTS

Ivy League Cross Country Heps (Nov. 1, 2019)
Bronx, N.Y. (Van Cortlandt Park)

Women (6K)
(1. Kayley Delay, Yale, 20:45.6) 2. Katie Wasserman, 20:49.2; 8. Allie Hays, 21:19.7; 12. Emily Acker, 21:32.7; 16. Bianca Alonzo, 21:41.3; 19. Sofia Camacho, 21:55.5; 28. Linnaea Kavulich, 22:03.4; 33. Emily Virtue, 22:10.6; 36. Fiona Danieu, 22:14.2; 38. Samantha Marin, 22:15.2; 51. Emily Digman, 22:43.2; 63. Angela Saidman, 23:07.8; 69. Serena Tripodi, 23:13.9

Men (5-Mile)
1. Kenny Vasbinder, 24:32.0; 4. Tyler Berg, 24:46.4; 13. David Vorbach, 25:05.7; 30. Pat Bayeux, 25:38.0; 37. Dominic Dyer, 25:48.0; 58. Lucas Aramburu, 26:19.1; 61. 26:23.1; 69. Aaron Breene, 26:36.6

FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia Cross Country by following the Lions on Twitter (@ColumbiaXCTF), Instagram (@columbiaxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).