Cornell's men's cross-country team finished second at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships on Saturday, its best finish at the meet since 2014.
The Big Red scored 53 points at the Mark Coogan Cross Country Course at Highland Park in Attleboro, Massachusetts, edging Princeton by three points, according to Cornell's men's recap. Harvard won with 23 points. Cornell's women placed eighth with 206 points in the eight-team field.
Three Cornell men earn All-Ivy honors
Griffin Mandirola placed sixth in 23 minutes, 36.7 seconds, and Aryan Abbaraju was seventh in 23:37.7. Both earned first-team All-Ivy honors.
Freshman Alex Mazzeo finished eighth in 23:40.9 to receive second-team recognition. Matthew O'Brien placed 15th in 24:06.6, and Krish Desai was 17th in 24:16.0, giving Cornell five scorers in the top 20.
Mandirola, Abbaraju, Mazzeo and Desai set 8-kilometer personal bests. Hunter Celkupa and Brandon Gent also posted personal bests, bringing Cornell's total to six.
The Big Red had placed third in each of the previous four Heps meets. Saturday's improvement came despite senior Pierre Attiogbe stepping in a hole during the race and being unable to finish because of an injury.
Coach Mike Henderson credited the remaining runners with staying composed and responding after Attiogbe dropped out.
Cornell's other finishers were Anthony Anatol, 43rd in 24:56.0; Celkupa, 46th in 25:00.3; Gent, 51st in 25:08.8; Colin Martens, 59th in 25:16.0; Ibrahim Ford, 73rd in 25:48.4; and Douglas Antaky, 76th in 25:58.1.
McManus leads Cornell women in 21st
Senior Maisie McManus led the Big Red women, placing 21st in 21:12.0, according to the women's race recap.
Junior Lucia Werner, usually Cornell's fifth runner this season, moved up to second on the team and placed 51st in 22:06.7. Evelyn Prodoehl followed one second later in 52nd.
Kinga Czajkowska finished 59th in 22:14.4, and Hannah Kersten placed 63rd in 22:21.8 to complete Cornell's scoring five.
Freshman Sophia Juanes Seto fell in an early pileup around the 800-meter mark. She got up and attempted to rejoin the race but could not finish, the school reported.
Henderson said the team result fell short of expectations but praised McManus' composure, Werner's more assertive racing and Prodoehl's progress.
The remaining Big Red finishers were Fiona Lee, 67th in 22:29.0; Huntley Buckingham, 68th in 22:32.3; Kate Ahmari, 73rd in 22:58.4; Henny Schminke, 76th in 23:15.5; and Emma O'Day, 82nd in 23:59.9.
Both Cornell teams next compete at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 13.
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