Pihlkar Wins Ivy League Title In The Weight Throw With School Record Mark

Saturday, February 29

Ithaca, N.Y.

9:30 a.m.

Columbia

Ivy League Indoor Heps

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/David Collins

Pihlkar Wins Ivy League Title In The Weight Throw With School Record Mark

2/29/2020 6:39:00 PM | Track and Field

Results Photo Gallery Ivy League Release Ivy League Information Page

Columbia Track & Field junior Jack Pihlkar tossed a school record mark of 19.62m to take the Ivy League title in the weight throw at Heps.

ITHACA, N.Y. – In his final toss of the weight throw, junior Jack Pihlkar set a school record and won the Ivy League championship in the weight throw with a mark of 19.62m to give Columbia Track & Field an individual title at the Ivy League Indoor Track & Field Heps, and along with Pihlkar, Columbia placed three Lions on the podium in a solid first day at Barton Hall in Ithaca, New York.

Junior Madelyn Sessler (Pentathlon/fourth) and first-year Will O'Brien (pole vault/fifth) both placed in their respective events, to join Pihlkar on the podum. While on the track, Columbia qualified four Lions into the finals of their events, with those race championships set to be decided on day two of the Ivy League Heps.

HOW IT HAPPENED (MEN'S EVENTS): Pihlkar, in the weight throw, twice set a school record, as on his third throw he tossed a mark of 19.48m to set what was then a school record. As he took to the circle in his sixth and final throw, Pihlkar was already in first place, but looking to pad his lead he broke his own school record, set on the third throw, with his Ivy League Heps Championship winning mark of 19.62m to come away with the gold.

YOUR @IvyLeague WT CHAMPION 🏆 JACK PIHLKAR!! 👏👏👏

Also, remember that school-record from the 3️⃣rd throw?? ... Ya forget about that lil record, Pihlkar's winning toss of 1️⃣9️⃣.6️⃣2️⃣m breaks his own school record. 😤😤😤#RoarLionRoar pic.twitter.com/TptaNlahOr
— Columbia Lions XC/TF (@ColumbiaXCTF) February 29, 2020

In the pole vault, O'Brien cleared a personal record height of 4.95m to finish fifth in the event. O'Brien cleared the bar on his first jump at the 4.95m height to leap past his previous PR of 4.80m. While on the track, junior Jackson Storey cruised to a fourth-place finish in the 800-Meter Run prelims, to qualify for Sunday's finals with a time of 1:53.86.

HOW IT HAPPENED (WOMEN'S EVENTS): In the Pentathlon, Sessler would set a PR of her own in one of the better Pentathlon performances in her career, finishing fourth with a score of 3,379 to find herself on the podium. Sessler open the Pentathlon with a solid 8.95 in the 60-Meter Hurdles, finishing third in the race to collect 920 points right from the word go.

Sessler carried her momentum into the high jump, where she cleared 1.55m to collect 678 points, giving her 1,598 points and after the first two events she sat in fifth place. The Lion junior collected 495 points, tossing a mark of 9.48m in the shot put, and she added to her total with a fourth-place finish in the long jump (5.27m), snagging 634 points to bring her total to 2,727 and entering the final event, the 800-Meter Dash, Sessler sat in fourth place.

Needing to run a solid race to place, Sessler did just that, clocking a time of 2:33.28 in the 800m to add 652 points to her total, bringing her final tally to 3,379 points which was good enough to place her fourth on the podium.

On the track, the Columbia qualified three Lions into Saturday's finals, with junior Lauren Micham clocking a third-place PR time of 8.46 in the 60-Meter Hurdles; junior Terri Turner coming across the line in 2:12.64 to finish third in the 800m and senior Bianca Alonzo finishing third in the 1,000-Meter Run with a time of 2:52.24 and those three Lions will race for a title on Sunday.

IVY LEAGUE INDOOR TRACK & FIELD HEPS (DAY ONE)
Ithaca, New York (Barton Hall)

Women's Track Events:
60-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Katina Martin, Harvard, 7.55Q) 12. Tessa Green, 7.73; 17. Rachel Marsh, 7.85
60m Hurdles (Prelims): (1. Cha'Mia Rothwell, Dartmouth, 8.39Q) 3. Lauren Micham, 8.46Q; 12. Carlita Taylor, 8.79
200-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Martin, 24.32q) 16. Green, 25.77; 18. Marsh, 26.02
400-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Uchechi Nwogwugwu, Penn, 55.12q) 10. Alexis Knight, 57.43; 14. Brianna Hodges, 58.92
500-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Skyla Wilson, Penn, 1:14.61q) 10. Sydney Groom, 1:16.84
800-Meter Run (Prelims): (1. Abbe Goldstein, Harvard, 2:11.79Q) 3. Terri Turner, 2:12.64Q
1,000-Meter Run (Prelims): (1. Nia Akins, Penn, 2:51.53Q) 3. Bianca Alonzo, 2:52.24Q; 13. Emily Digman, 2:56.28

Women's Field Events:
Long Jump: (1. EIjeoma Uche, Brown, 20-5.75/6.24m) 9. Tiffany Bautista, 18-9.75/5.73; 19. Maryam Hassan, 17-3.50/5.27m

Women's Multi Events:
Pentathlon: (1. Beatrice Juskeviciute, Cornell, 4,073) 4. Madelyn Sessler, 3,379

Men's Track Events:
60-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Justice Dixon, Princeton, 6.79Q) 14. Dante Miller, 6.91; 18. Brodie Holmes, 6.99; 20. Jahi Hernandez, 7.01; 23. Chris Balthazar, 7.09
60m Hurdles (Prelims): (1. Joseph Daniels, Princeton, 7.85Q) 12. Moe Abusway, 8.43
200-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Emerson Douds, Penn, 21.75q) 11. Hernandez, 22.34; 12. Holmes, 22.47; 16. Balthazar, 22.61
400-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Aaron Shirley, Harvard, 48.33q) James Chung, DNF
500-Meter Dash (Prelims): (1. Antaures Jackson, Penn, 1:04.92q) 10. Vasilis Kopanas, 1:06.06; 15. Gio Trejos, 1:07.83
800-Meter Run (Prelims): (1. Tim Zepf, Dartmouth, 1:52.46Q) 4. Jackson Storey, 1:53.86Q; 9. Jacob Caswell, 1:54.82
1,000-Meter Run (Prelims): (1. Michael Kolor, Harvard, 2:29.65Q) 16. Aaron Breene, 2:36.37

Men's Field Events:
Pole Vault: (1. Caleb Johnson, 17-2.75/5.25m) 5. Will O'Brien, 16-2.75/4.95m; 7. Tiber Seireeni, 15-9.00/4.80m; 10. Ben Poth, 15-3.00/4.65m; 11. Logan Rubasch, 14-9.00/4.50
Weight Throw: 1. Jack Pihlkar, 64-4.50/19.62m; 10. Hunter Hasley, 55-5.00/16.89

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