Men’s Track & Field Sends Two Runners To Friday, Exceeds Pre-Meet Expectations on Day One
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — On a day that saw the Cornell men’s track and field team exceed pre-meet expectations, a pair of runners advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Preliminary East Round at the Robert C. Haugh Complex in Bloomington, Ind. Both Christian Martin (110m hurdles) and Rhys Hammond (1,500 meters) will run again on Friday with their sights set on qualifying to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June.
Heps champion Martin qualified for Friday’s 6:15 p.m. quarterfinals, posting a time of 13.82 to finish fifth in his heat and 22nd overall. The time was a career best and qualified him by .01 to run for a spot in the NCAA finals. He entered as the 39th seed in the 48-runner field with a season-best mark of 13.96.
Hammond also upset pre-meet form charts, taking seventh overall in a fast third heat, with his time of 3:44.69 good for seventh in the running. He’ll run the second heat on on Friday at 5:15 p.m. looking to finish in the top five or post one of the next two best times overall to punch his ticket to Eugene, Ore. Freshman Damian Hackett was 34th overall in 3:49.69.
Both Shane Racey and Dylan Rodgers posted top 25 finishes in the pole vault. Racey cleared a personal-best 5.19m (17-0 1/4) to finish 15th, just three spots from earning a trip the finals and the third-best mark in school history. Rodgers was 21st with a clearance of 5.04m (16-6 1/2). Both vaulters easily bested their seeds entering the meet.
School record holder Tomas Kersulis also easily bested his seed, running the 400 meters in 46.89 to grab 27th place, 13 spots better than his pre-meet placement. He did not qualify for the finals. Perry Mackinnon, seeded 46th entering the 10,000 meters, finished 15th in a 48-runner field with a time of 29:31.70.
