Men look for another triple crown, women hope for continued progress

As spring weather finally comes to Princeton, the men's and women's track teams move outside Jadwin Gym to open-air Weaver Stadium. This spring, the men look to continue their winning ways, while the women attempt to turn their fortunes around.

The Princeton men have one major team goal for the outdoor season — win the Heptagonal Championships, held May 13-14 in Annapolis, Md. With a victory at Heps, the Tigers would win an unprecedented triple-Triple Crown by taking the Heps titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track for the third straight year. Princeton has won eight straight Heps championships — dating back to cross country's triumph in fall 1997 — and is the prohibitive favorite to make it nine straight.

Encouraging newcomers

The Tiger women have more modest aspirations. Head coach Peter Farrell described his team as "undermanned" throughout the season because Princeton couldn't manage to field athletes in every event. The Tigers did pick up two new faces — freshman Nikola Holmes, who played ice hockey during the winter, will compete in jumping events, and sophomore Emily Eynon, who played squash this winter, will provide depth in distance events. But Princeton still needs help in the sprinting events.

Outdoor track also has four additional events — the 10,000 meters, discus, javelin and 400 hurdles.

"[Senior] Courtney Ebersole is great in the 10,000," Farrell said.

Both the men and women have already competed — over Spring Break — in one outdoor meet, the Hurricane Invitational in Miami. The men continued their excellence in the Sunshine State as many of their top performers — including junior captain Scott Denbo and senior captain John Mack — turned in solid finishes.

The women saw some good signs as well, with senior captain Shawneequa Callier leaping 1.68 meters in the high jump, good for a second-place tie, and sophomore Holly Huffman taking third in the 3000 with a time of 10 minutes, 13.46 seconds. Sophomore Lauren Simmons ran the 800 in 2:13.47.

"Lauren's time was about five seconds faster than her times from a similar point in the season last year," Farrell said.

Another sophomore, Natalie Deffenbaugh, was sixth in the 400 hurdles, clocking in at 1:03.36.

"Natalie's time was very good for an early season meet," Farrell said.

Leaders

Callier and senior Allison Brown, the captains of the women's team, will be counted on to keep the team focused as the season wears on. Other important performers for the women include juniors Sharon Jordan and Rebecca Desman, who both provided consistency in the jumping events during the indoor season.

As the season progresses, the meets become more important leading up to Heps, the biggest meet of the season for both teams. But other meets are also significant, including the Sam Howell Invitational at Weaver Stadium on April 1. The invitational will provide both teams with an opportunity to gauge their progress relatively early in the season. Weaver Stadium also hosts the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships for the women, May 18-21.

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"ECACs brings schools together from Maine to Virginia, and as far west as Notre Dame," Farrell said.

Princeton also plays host to the Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association of America Championships — an equivalent to ECACs for the men's team — May 18-21. Both ECACs and IC4As have stiff qualifying standards for athletes, but the Tigers who manage to make the standards should have an important home-track advantage for the meets.

The men, looking for more Heps glory, will be challenged by Brown and Navy, which finished second and third respectively at indoor Heps. Navy's attempt to dethrone Princeton may be particularly potent, because the Midshipmen should receive a boost from hosting Heps this year. But the Tigers should have a stronger, deeper team with a great deal of experience in important meets. And with athletes like Denbo, Mack and sophomore Paul Morrison, they have a real chance of winning a triple Triple Crown on Navy's home track.