Sophomore Merber breaks Ivy record with 3:58 mile

On Friday, the Columbia Lions hosted a last-chance meet at the New York Armory for athletes throughout the Eastern Seaboard seeking to attain qualifying standards for the NCAA Championships this coming weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. Various provisional standards were met, and school and Ivy records were set in the women’s 4x400m relay and the marquee event, the men’s one-mile.

The women’s 3k saw four provisional marks, though none from Columbia women. In the men’s races, John Martinez of North Carolina led the way with an 8:04.56 to hit the provisional standard, while freshman Lions Ben Veilleux and Mark Feigen were sixth and seventh in 8:18 and 8:21—solid times for a debut season.

In the 800m, two women satisfied the provisional standard of 2:09. Senior Lion Serita Lachesis missed by a hair, taking third in 2:09.01. For the men, winner Brian Hill of Harvard was the sole provisional qualifier. Columbia senior and junior Mike Mark and Matthew Stewart were third and fourth in 1:51.40 and 1:53.17, respectively.

One man and woman each—Chelsea Carrier of West Virginia and Chris Kinney of Georgetown—met the provisional standard in the 60m hurdles. The sprints, 60m through 200m, didn’t have any provisional or automatic marks on either side.

On the field, Matthew Gac of Buffalo hit the provisional standard for the men’s weight throw with a 20.41m hurl. Adam Bergo of Rutgers just made the provisional height of 2.14m in the men’s high jump. Sophomore Monique Roberts failed to better her season-best and school-record 1.82m leap, a mark that has her tied at 13th nationally in the women’s high jump. The pole vault saw one provisional standard reached, with Tiffany Maskulinski of Buffalo clearing 4.15m.

Columbia’s Sharay Hale, Kyra Caldwell, Kristen Houp, and Yamira Bell ran a superb relay, lowering their school-record 3:41.19 4x400m to a new Ivy best, 3:38.04. The time stands just a second over the NCAA automatic 3:37.00, but bodes well for future seasons, as all four women are underclassmen. Hale will travel to Fayetteville to represent Columbia in the 400m individually.

For both men and women, the one-mile run was the most successful event. There were 15 provisional standards attained between them, and two automatics in the men’s version.

Though winner Keri Bland of West Virginia fell just short of the automatic mark on the women’s side, she pulled nearly the entire field to the provisional standard, as 10 women were under 4:47. Included was junior Lion Jacqueline Drouin, who ran a personal best indoors of 4:45.35.

The men’s mile turned out to be one of the fastest in the country, as four men went sub-4:00. Columbia sophomore Kyle Merber declared his status as not only an Ivy, but a national-caliber competitor, winning the event in 3:58.52. That mark surpassed the Ivy record indoors and was the ninth-fastest mile time in the nation this season.

Sophomores Merber and Hale will make the trip to Fayetteville this weekend to represent Columbia in the one-mile and 400m, respectively. High jumper Roberts' admittance remains to be determined.