Incredible hurdles final shaping up in the Ivy League Championships with Paul VI graduate Aliya Garozzo of Penn and Pennsville’s Arianna Smith of Princeton posting the fastest qualifying times Saturday.
Garozzo, a sophomore, and Smith, a junior, both recorded PR’s in the 60-meter hurdles trials at Dartmouth’s Leverone Fieldhouse in Hanover, N.H. Garozzo ran 8.49 and Smith 8.50. Garozzo’s time is No. 5 in Penn history, and Smith’s ties the school record initially set by Isabella Hilditch at the 2020 Heps.
Garozzo’s previous PR was an 8.61 last month in a meet at Penn State. Smith’s was an 8.55, which she ran twice this winter.
On Saturday, Smith raced first in Lane 3 and won her heat by 3-100ths of a second over Penn junior Katherine Muccio, who ran 8.53. Garozzo, racing in Lane 7, won the second heat by 4-100ths of a second over Brown junior Brooke Ury, who also ran 8.53.
The eight qualifier for Sunday’s final all ran within 15-100ths of a second of each other, with those top four separated by 4-100ths of a second.
The final is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
Garozzo is also the top seed in the 500-meter dash final after leading all qualifiers in a near-PR 1:14.81. Her PR is 1:13.98, No. 8 in Penn history. The 500 final is at 12:10 p.m. Sunday so it will be a busy 45 minutes for Garozzo.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 