Pihlkar And Fanta Set The Pace For Columbia At Day One Of The IC4A/ECAC Championships

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

Pihlkar And Fanta Set The Pace For Columbia At Day One Of The IC4A/ECAC Championships

5/11/2019 8:28:00 PM | Track and Field

Day 1 Results Live Results More Information

Columbia racked up three top-10 finishes and three top-15 finishes in a solid first day.

PRINCETON, N.J.— Jack Pihlkar set the tone early, finishing third with a personal best mark of 62.30m, to open the day in the hammer throw, while Annie Fanta and Terri Turner, with Fanta finishing fourth in the 1,500-meter run and Turner finishing sixth in the 800-meter run, kept up the momentum for Columbia Track and Field who earned three top-10 finishes at the first day of the IC4A/ECAC Championships hosted by Princeton at Weaver Stadium on Saturday.

Fanta's fourth place time in the 1,500-meter run of 4:21.44 and Turner's 2:08.07 time in the 800-meter run were both personal records respectively. In the overall team standings, the women finished the day sitting in 21st while the men finished the day in 19th place.

HOW IT HAPPENED (MEN'S FIELD EVENTS): Pihlkar was the lone Columbia student-athlete to compete in a field event for the Columbia men, and his was the first event of the day. He worked his way to the PR mark of 62.30m/204-05, hitting the distance on his fifth attempt of the event. Pihlkar's mark bested his previous PR of 60.68m set at the UCONN Northeast Challenge on April 13.

HOW IT HAPPENED (WOMEN'S TRACK EVENTS): Fanta's PR of 4:21.44 in the 1,500-meter run crushed her previous PR of 4:23.68, set at the Stanford Invitational on March 30, and it is her best finish in a 1,500-meter run event since coming in third at the 2016 Yale Springtime Invitational. In the 800-meter run, Turner came out of the gate on fire, finishing sixth with her time of 2:08.07.

The mark for Turner beats her previous PR of 2:08.38 set at the ECAC Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 3, and it bested her previous outdoor PR of 2:08.77 set at the Ocean State Invitational on April 13. In the 5,00-meter run, Columbia got two top-15 finishes from Julia Sienski, who finished 12th with a time of 17:24.00, and Serena Tripodi, who finished 14th with a time of 17:38.26.

HOW IT HAPPENED (MEN'S TRACK EVENTS): Columbia got its best finish on the men's side in track events from Dan Schumacher, who finished 13th in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:27.53. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Patrick Bayeux finished inside the top-20, coming in 19th with a time of 9:24.47.

Tyler Italiano led the Columbia men with a time of 14:41.41 to finish 20th in the 5,000-meter run, while David Vorbach finished right behind Italiano, finishing with a time of 14:47.99, coming in 21st. Dominic Dyer rounded out Columbia in the 5,000-meter run finishing 25th with a time of 15:03.80.

UP NEXT FOR THE LIONS: Columbia wraps up the weekend in Princeton, with the women having a busy Sunday. Columbia will have women student-athletes competing in the triple jump, 100-meter high hurdles and discus throw, while the men will see action on the field in the discus throw. The competition begins at 9:30 a.m., with the women's triple jump and men's discus throw.

LINKS TO FOLLOW THE DAY TWO ACTION:
Live Results
Schedule of Events (PDF)

COLUMBIA RESULTS

IC4A/ECAC Championships Day 1
Princeton, N.J. (Weaver Stadium)

Men's Events (Track)
800-Meter Run: (1. Evans Kibet, Siena, 1:49.07) 51. Jake Caswell, 1:58.67; 54. Jackson Storey, 2:13.16; Josiah Langstaff, DQ
3,000-Meter Steeplechase: (1. Victor Yegon, Lehigh, 8:53.36) 19. Patrick Bayeux, 9:24.47
5,000-Meter Run: (1. Paul Hogan, UMass Lowell, 13:59.89) 20. Tyler Italiano, 14:41.41; 21. David Vorbach, 14:47.99; 25. Dominic Dyer, 15:03.80
10,000-Meter Run: (1. Benjamin Petrella, Army West Point, 30:06.41) 13. Dan Schumacher, 31:27.53

Women's Events (Track)
800-Meter Run: (1. Brooke Fazio, Richmond, 2:05.71) 6. Terri Turner, 2:08.07; 22. Sydney Groom, 2:12.30
1,500-Meter Run: (1. Melissa Anastasakis, Elon, 4:20.26) 4. Annie Fanta, 4:21.44; Katie Wasserman, DNF
5,000-Meter Run: (1. Julia Kearley, Iona, 16:44.63) 12. Julia Sienski, 17:24.00; 14. Serena Tripodi, 17:38.26

Men's Events (Field)
Hammer Throw: (1. Alexios Prodanas, UMBC, 211-05/64.45) 3. Jack Pihlkar, 204-05/62.30

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