Rams win 4x800; Donavin doubles in 800, 1500

A day after watching his teammates pull out a thrilling victory in the Iowa Conference's inaugural men's 4x800 relay, Cornell senior Kirkwood Donavin claimed nail-biting wins in the 800 and 1500 during Saturday's conclusion of the IIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at a rain-soaked Ash Park Stadium.

The three event titles and six other top-three all-conference performances carried the Cornell men to its best finish (fifth) and highest point total (83.5) at an IIAC outdoor meet. The Rams had 11 individuals earn all-IIAC accolades in the men's competition.

"I thought we had a pretty good weekend, especially on the men's side," Cornell head coach Lonnie Speidel said. "We scored in 10 different events, which is our most ever in the IIAC. The guys battled hard all weekend and were rewarded. With the strength of the IIAC, being a champion or all-conference is impressive."

Senior Allie Jagielo earned a spot on the all-conference podium with a runner-up finish in the 3000 steeplechase. The Cornell women got school-record performances from sophomore Elise Mead (10,000) and junior Christal Harris (heptathlon) and wound up seventh in the team standings with 39 points, its best outdoor point total since 2007.

Donavin's double in the 800 and 1500 made him Cornell's most decorated IIAC champion. He'll leave the program as a six-time IIAC track and field champ, five of those crowns captured in 2011 (indoors and outdoors). Hurdle specialist James Klobucar (2006-08), and now current junior Adam Rooyakkers, are second on the list with four IIAC titles apiece.

Donavin's two titles on Saturday came just more than an hour apart. He was in control for most of the 1500 race, although needed a late push to fend off Luther's Andrew Papke-Larson in a time of 4 minutes, 0.19 seconds. The Luther runner sneaked ahead of Donavin

with about 20 meters to go, but Donavin was quick to react and darted back ahead just before the finish line for a .37-second victory.

It was Donavin battling teammate Rooyakkers down the homestretch for the 800 crown. Rooyakkers held a slight lead with roughly 50 meters left, but Donavin came on strong and posted a narrow win in 1:58.65. Rooyakkers was second in 1:58.97.

Rooyakkers anchored the Rams' 4x800 relay of junior Chris Stadler, freshman Scott Riedel and junior Reed Skoog to a dramatic victory Friday night. The Rams fought off Central and Loras to claim the program's first-ever IIAC outdoor relay title in 7:55.49, less than one second off the school record.

Cornell and Loras set the pace through the first three legs. Skoog put the Rams ahead when he handed off to Rooyakkers with two laps to go. Rooyakkers took it the rest of the way, holding off a late charge by Central to beat the runner-up Dutch by 1.11 seconds.

"The men's 4x800 relay might have been the most exciting race of the weekend with Rooyakkers holding off the talented Central runner (Ben Schornack) for the win," Speidel said.

The Rams had three placewinners in the men's 10,000, led by Nowak's second-place effort in 32:00.31. Senior Andrew Tobben was fourth (32:10.24) and Ben Jacobs came in seventh (33:02.29).

Tobben raced to a runner-up finish in a tightly-contested 5,000. He crossed one second ahead of Loras and less than four seconds behind Luther champion Scott Mittman.

Cornell ended the meet with a third-place showing in the men's 4x400. The quartet of junior Matt McGowan, Skoog, sophomore Andrew Harter and Riedel ran a season-best 3:22.96 to earn all-conference recognition.

The Rams had two all-conference performers in the field events. Freshman Anthony Bridges placed third in the pole vault with a personal-record 14-1.25. Junior Marshall Kraker enjoyed his best day in the javelin, throwing 166-2 for third place.

Jagielo notched Cornell's top finish on the women's side, taking second in the 3000 steeplechase in 11:30.18. That was a personal record for the team leader.

Harris and Mead both set new Cornell women's standards in Friday's competition. Harris placed fourth in the heptathlon with an NCAA provisional mark of 4,115 points, shattering the old school record of 3,718 set by Cayla Techlin in 2007. In her seventh and final event, Harris raced to a runner-up finish in the 800 in a personal-best 2:34.02.

Mead battled chilly and windy conditions in the 10,000, taking fourth in a school-record time of 38:15.87. She took down the previous program mark of 38:52.26, set by Patricia Gonzalves in 2007.

"I was very happy for Allie as she goes out her senior year as an all-IIAC competitor. She's a tremendous individual whose leadership will be missed," Speidel said. "Christal put together two solid days and just squeaked past the NCAA provisional standard. After just missing it twice indoors in the pentathlon, she's really happy to finally reach that barrier. Elise ran a gutsy race in the 10K. She's missed some training with a knee injury but pushed through the pain for a new school record."

Senior Madison Craw placed fourth in a strong shot put field that saw the top five finishers post NCAA provisional marks. Her best throw went 43-5.75. Raquel Ristau came in seventh (40-7.75). Craw and Ristau both scored points in the hammer throw, placing sixth (141-2) and eighth (139-2) respectively.

The Rams received a fifth-place finish from freshman Amanda Houts in the pole vault (9-8). Cornell's 4x800 team of Allison Newman, Laura Ettlin, Lauren Seemann and Arden Stewart took fifth in 9:58.66.