Princeton's Nicholas Bendtsen wins a tactical men's 10,000

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

PRINCETON, NJ – After day one of the Ivy League Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Princeton has taken commanding leads in both the men’s and women’s team competitions. The men’s team currently sits at 42 points, leading Penn by 20, while the women have 56 to Harvard’s 44.

On the women’s side, the Tigers dominated the field events, earning at least 10 points in the pole vault, long jump, discus and hammer throw. Meanwhile, the men earned 20 in a close, exciting 10,000 to cap off the day. Junior Nicholas Bendtsen, who won the 3,000 and 5,000 at the indoor Heps, led the way with a 29:10 performance. He ran 5k splits of 14:50 and 14:20, and he closed his last 400 in a blistering 55 seconds.

“I knew it was going to come down to the last 800 or so,” Bendtsen said. “I just tried to feel as comfortable as I could for a lot of laps. It felt good when I made a move, and, yeah… it was a great day.”

In the women’s 10,000, Penn teammates Lily Murphy and Maeve Stiles went 1-2 to bring their team into a close third place behind Harvard. With the sprint events coming up tomorrow, Penn will be the team to keep an eye on. The red-and-blue won the indoor conference meet in March in large part because of the success of their sprints and relays.

Harvard, meanwhile, has had some outstanding performers in the field events, especially in the throws. In the men's hammer throw, Kenneth Ikeji was dominant as usual, throwing 73.33 meters to beat second-place Benjamin Pable (Dartmouth) by nearly five meters. Ikeji, the indoor national champion in the weight throw, hasn't lost a hammer throw or weight throw competition in more than a year.

It was Ikeji's fifth Heps crown and he hopes it helps push the Crimson to a team title.

“Last year, we won, and it was a really fun experience,” Ikeji said. “I’m glad I set the tone for the men’s squad and got the first 10 points on the board. Hopefully, we come out tomorrow… and score some more points.”

Ikeji was joined in the winner's column by fellow Crimson freshman Emilia Kolokotroni, who took home the women's hammer throw championship with a throw of 62.45 meters (204-10), a personal best.

In the women’s pole vault, which was moved inside due to weather, Lilly Hodge gave Harvard eight more points with a second place finish and a vault of 4.07 meters (13-4.25). Hodge was no match for Princeton’s Tessa Mudd, though, who won after only two successful vaults. Her final clearance was at 4.17 meters (13-8.25).

Mudd has competed in four Ivy League Championship meets and has won the pole vault in all of them. She said she was happy to have “done my job” and put 10 points up on the board; at the Heptagonal meet, she says, the team aspect reigns supreme.

“I think the Ivy League is really unique,” Mudd said. “We’re such a small conference compared to others, and you have the inner-Ivy rivals and all that, and it makes it a really fun, energetic meet.”

Princeton got 18 more points from the women’s long jump, as Alexandra Kelley and Georgina Scoot went 1-2 with jumps of 6.40 meters (21-0) and 6.31 meters (20-8.50), respectively.

There was also a 1-2 in the men’s pole vault from Penn teammates James Rhoads and Scott Toney, who had equal vaults of 5.46 meters (17-11). Rhoads won on misses.

On the track, meanwhile, prelims pointed to potential fireworks on Sunday. NCAA champion Maia Ramsden of Harvard had the best time in the women’s 1,500 prelims, clocking a 4:19 to narrowly win her heat. In the men’s 1,500, Princeton qualified four men to the final, led by junior Harrison Witt.

Both 200 meter dash prelims featured 1-2-3 finishes, with Princeton grabbing the top three men’s spots and Penn taking the first three women’s spots. At the indoor conference meet, the Penn trio of Fore Abinusawa, Isabella Whittaker and Christiana Nwachuku swept the podium in the 60 and the 200. 

Harvard’s Chloe Fair took the top spot in the 400 meter hurdles prelims, clocking a 58.50 to win her heat by nearly two seconds. 

In the women’s 800, Penn’s Bronwyn Patterson took the top qualifying spot, running 2:07.18. Harvard freshman Sophia Gorriaran, who won the 800 at the indoor conference meet, also qualified, winning her heat with a time of 2:08.45.

Princeton athletes lead the men’s decathlon and women’s pentathlon. Philip Kastner has a narrow 94-point lead in the decathlon at the halfway point, while Julia Jongejeugd leads the heptathlon by nearly 200 points with three events left.

Tomorrow, Harvard's Graham Blanks will try to fend off Bendtsen in the men's 5,000. Blanks made his outdoor debut in late March with a 13:37 performance at the Raleigh Relays, his first race after a months-long break due to injury. In Blanks’ absence, Bendtsen won a distance double at the indoor conference meet in March, helping Princeton win the men's team title.

Bendtsen's season’s best is 13:51, well behind Blanks’, but he has had some impressive performances lately, taking third place in the 5,000 at the Virginia Invitational and third in the 1,500 at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

The women's 4x400 meter relay will also be an event to watch. Penn was an indoor NCAA qualifier and holds the top seed time. Three members of Harvard’s team – Gorriaran, Victoria Bossong, and Fair – were on the DMR squad that destroyed the collegiate record at the Penn Relays last weekend. Princeton could also be in the mix.

The women’s team competition looks like it’s going to be tight. Princeton will try to keep dominating the field events; Penn will do the same in the sprints; and Harvard will try to get an advantage in the distance events.

On the men’s side, Princeton may have a slightly easier road to the championship, but nothing is guaranteed. One of the things that makes the Heptagonal Championships a special meet is the emphasis on rivalries and team success; points matter above all else, and the finals will feature tactical racing strategies.