Senior Aaron Davidson threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Friday night’s baseball game at Ash Park.
The multi-time conference champion was back in his element on the track Saturday, racing to the 5000-meter title at the Cornell Invitational. Davidson finished in 15:30.60, claiming a two-second victory over Grinnell’s Brian Goodell in the final home race of his banner-filled career.
Davidson helped Cornell’s men place sixth in the 12-team field with 49 points. The Rams scored 28 points in the women’s division.
The Rams landed three point scorers in the men’s 1500, led by freshman Isaak Hutchings in second (4:07.57). Gabe Soda was close behind in third (4:10.59) and Davidson took sixth (4:14.87).
Cornell’s all-freshmen 4×800 relay of Soda, Hutchings, Tyler Bilskie and Fisher Isaacson turned in a solid runner-up time of 8:11.19. Senior Jacob Engelken was third in the 400 hurdles (1:00.01).
The Rams received seventh-place efforts from Anthony Pilgrim in the triple jump (36-3) and Brock Flack in the discus (127-10).
Cornell’s women scored 16 points in the 400, highlighted by Sidney Brown’s runner-up showing in 1:02.52. Teammate Madison Osborn was a blink behind in third (1:02.55) and Emilia Lambert-Mergendahl finished seventh (1:05.91).
Lambert-Mergendahl anchored the fourth-place 4×100 relay (51.67) that included Natalie McAllister, Osborn and Brown. McAllister placed fifth in the long jump (15-4) and Billie Fogarty seventh in the 1500 (5:23.23).
The mixed gender 4×400 relay concluded the running events for the day. Cornell’s top team of Engelken, Caroline Riss, Osborn and Nathan Watters ran 3:55.11 for seventh place.
The Rams compete in the Spartan Invitational April 8-9 at the University of Dubuque.