MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's accomplished seniors Ava Claussen-Tubbs and Hailey Carolan were the first to greet their talented freshman anchor Jayda Carnes after the final race at the Midwest Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Carnes brought the Rams home to victory in the women's 4x400 relay, stamping a strong two-day team performance at Van Metre Field at Ash Park. The quartet, which included first-year Ryleigh Storjohann, won comfortably in 4:05.34 to claim the team's fourth event title of the weekend.
 
Cornell scored 119 points in the meet and finished third in the team race behind Grinnell (178) and Illinois College (160).
 
Earlier in the day, Carnes (400 meters) and Claussen-Tubbs (800) captured individual titles in their specialty races. Carolan earned (top 3) all-conference medals in four events on Day 2.
 
Carnes ran a season-best 59.43 to win the 400. She was the indoor champion at that distance in February. Carnes also placed seventh in the 200 (26.41).
 
Claussen-Tubbs achieved a rare four-peat in the outdoor 800, crossing with a swift time of 2:14.41. It was her seventh career MWC title in the 800, which includes three golds at indoors.  
 
Claussen-Tubbs, who won the 1500 on Friday, left her final home competition as a 14-time MWC champion. Remarkably, she's earned a top podium spot 10 times since 2025.
 
Carolan raised her impressive career MWC medal count to 26. She was runner-up in the high jump (5-4.25) and placed third in both the 100 hurdles (15.70) and 400 hurdles (1:07.39).  
 
 Sophomore Lidia Dahlman used a late charge to finish second in the 5000 with a time of 17:44.09. Teammate Milar Little was seventh (18:47.01).
 
Junior Mackenzie Engbert ran a lifetime-best 2:18.31 in the 800 to take runner-up behind Claussen-Tubbs. Sophomore Carley Seeley set a personal record in the 3000 steeplechase, placing third in 11:42.48.
 
Cora Talbert finished fourth in the 100 hurdles (16.05) and ran leadoff on the fourth-place 4x100 relay (49.79) that included Carnes, Alexa Hugart and Storjohann. Hugart was seventh in the 400 hurdles (1:12.19).
 
MWC Elite 20 Award
Cornell junior distance runner Sophie Stumbo was honored with the MWC Elite 20 Award at the conclusion of Saturday's meet. The award recognizes the student-athlete with the highest grade point average among participants in the sport's culminating championship or tournament event.
 
Stumbo also won the award for the 2024 women's cross country season. She is Cornell's first-ever recipient in track & field.
 
Cornell has now claimed 16 MWC Elite 20 awards since its inception in 2015-16. 
 
Coming up – The Rams will send select athletes to the Augustana Last Chance Qualifier Thursday in Rock Island, Ill.