May 7, 2005
Caroline Bierbaum ran the fastest time ever by an Ivy League runner to win the 10,000m in 32:44.51 on day one at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships at Columbia's Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The Columbia junior set the all-time Heps meet record and shattered the Wien Stadium record by more than two minutes while running the fastest time in the nation this season. For Bierbaum, it completes a Heps sweep, as she won the cross country title as well as the 5,000m at the Ivy League Indoor Championships.
Bierbaum and Harvard's Lindsey Schref pulled away from the pack immediately at the start of the race, and had opened a 200-meter lead on the rest of the field by the one-mile mark. Bierbaum sat on the shoulder of Schref for the majority of the race before surging ahead with four laps remaining. Bierbaum went on to win the race by seven seconds despite Schref setting an American Junior record.
 Stublic, Kilmer and Bierbaum  |
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The Lions also took third and fourth in the event, giving evidence to Columbia's long distance prowess. Loretta Kilmer took third place with a 34:44.22 while Lisa Stublic finished just behind her at 3:45.46. Both athletes left a pack of three other runners behind in the final half mile.
In the men's 10,000m, Karl Dusen took sixth place by running a 31:14.90, picking up one point for the Lions.
The women set themselves up well for tomorrow's finals by qualifying individuals in every event they entered. In the women's 400m dash preliminaries, both of Columbia's entrants, Janice Burrell and Kurstin Nelms, qualified for the finals. Nelms will be the fourth seed in the event after posting a 57.06 in her heat.
In the 800m, Sarah Decker finished second in her heat to qualify for the finals as the sixth seed. Decker cruised to 2:12.73 in the preliminaries. Hilary Bontz advanced to the finals of the 1500m with a time of 4:33.09.
In the women's 100m hurdles, first-year Osamuede Iyoha reached the finals as the fifth seed. Iyoha ran 14.65, her best time of the season. The Lions also placed two more runners in the women's 400m hurdles finals as Whitney Crayton and Katy Schlichtman finished one-two in their heat. Crayton is the second seeded qualifier with a time of 1:01.22 while Schilchtman will be seeded seventh.
For the men, Erison Hurtault won his heat convincingly in a time of 48.15 to secure his place in the finals in the men's 400m. Hurtault will defend his outdoor title and attempt to make it four-for-four at the Indoor and Outdoor Heps in the 400m. Hurtault also qualified for the finals in the men's 200m. Though not his primary event, Hurtault will be seeded fourth in the event tomorrow.
Justin Fiske reached the finals of the 800m after 1:53.86 in qualifying. Gerry Groothuis will be seeded third in the men's 1500m having run a 3:51.54 in his preliminary heat.
The Championship resumes at 9 a.m. with field events and continues until the awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m.
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Click here for complete women's results.
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Click here for complete men's results.
