ITHICA, N.Y. — The Columbia indoor track and field team finished the 2025 Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships in style on Sunday. The Lions captured 14 medals with the men's and women's 4x800 relay teams both capturing silver.
Matt Gatune and
Rory Clare each took home bronze in the mile.
In the men's 4x800 the quartet of
Caleb Gartner,
Matt Gatune,
Justin Gottlieb,
Jacob Van Orden finished with a time of 7:30.41. Gartner ran a strong opening leg, putting the Lions in third place. Gatune was next up for the Lions and ran the second fastest split in the race, helping Columbia move into second place. Gottlieb and Van Orden did their part to hold on to second.
The women's 4x800 was equally thrilling. In lane eight, the lineup of
Isabella Shertzer,
Rory Clare,
Grace Carr,
Lucy Henkel finished in second place with a time of 8:42.05 which was good for a new Columbia program record. Clare helped get the Lions on the podium after running a blistering second leg with a split time of 2:08.71 – moving Columbia up five spots.
Gatune, Van Orden, Clare, Henkel,
Obiora Okeke, and
Elia Ton-That all wrapped up the weekend winning multiple medals.
Gatune took home the bronze in the men's mile, finishing with a time of 4:03.58. Clare also finished on the podium in the women's mile, winning bronze with a time of 4:42.01.
A day after finishing fourth in the weight throw, Okeke finished fourth in the shotput with a throw of 17.97 meters. He collected two medals on the weekend.
In the middle distances,
Haydn Brotschi captured fourth in the men's 400m, Van Orden finished fifth in the men's 800m, while
Sydney Goldson finished fourth in the women's 500m.
Ryan Borden and Henkel both finished in fifth place in the men's and women's 1000m race. Borden finished with a time of 2:25.11, while Henkel crossed the line with a time of 2:48.58. In the men's 5000m race
Talha Syed finished in fifth place with a time of 13:59.36. Ton-That finished fifth in the women's 5000m with a time of 16:36.83 a day after finishing fifth in the 3000m.
In the final standings, the men finished seventh with 33 points; the women in eighth with 24. Princeton won the men's and women's team championship with 189.5 points and 168 points, respectively.
A full recap of day one of the competition can be found
HERE.
Full results from the Ivy League Indoor Heps can be found
HERE.
UP NEXT
With the conclusion of the Indoor Heps, the Lions turn their attention to the NCAA Indoor Championships which will be held from March 14-15 in Virginia Beach, Va.
Columbia's schedule for the rest of the 2024-25 season, including the upcoming outdoor schedule, can be found
HERE.
Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
