Streak ends for men's cross country at Heps

VAN CORTLANDT PARK, N.Y. — Dartmouth snapped Princeton's string of nine consecutive Heptagonal League Championships in cross country and track by winning the men's Heps cross country meet Oct. 27 at Van Cortlandt Park.

In humid 70-degree weather, the Big Green seized the crown from the three-time defending cross country champion Tigers by placing four runners ahead of Princeton's first finisher. The final team score for the five-mile race was Dartmouth first with 55 points, Princeton second with 88 points and Columbia third with 94 points.

Brown junior Enda Johnson captured the individual race in a time of 24 minutes, 56 seconds after passing Harvard senior Ed Baker — who finished third after leading most of the way — at the top of Cemetery Hill, 1,000 yards from the finish. Dartmouth sophomore Tom McArdle placed second to lead the Big Green to its first title since 1995.

"We're certainly very excited," Dartmouth coach Barry Harwick said. "We thought we had a chance, but it was an extremely competitive day."

As they were for Johnson, the back hills were also a "turning point" for Dartmouth, according to Harwick.

"We had four runners in very good position in the back hills," he said. "I think we had all four ahead of Princeton's first runner."

Consistent

Despite Dartmouth's strong four-runner pack, Princeton had the tightest pack of the day with six runners finishing within seven seconds of each other and placing more runners than any team in the top 25.

"That's always been our forte throughout the entire year," Princeton head coach Mike Brady said. "We have solid depth by running well and running together. It's just a matter of being closer to where we ought to be."

Freshman Ryan Teising was the first Tiger to cross the line and the third freshman finisher in the race with a time of 25:30. His 14th-place finish earned him All-Ivy, second team honors.

"On any given day, any of us could have been the first finisher," Teising said. "This was just my day to be first. When I came for camp in the summer, I thought that I would not be running varsity. It's kind of a surprise to be able to run with them right away."

He was followed by sophomore Jon Bell and junior Wesley Stockard, who dueled with Baker for the lead in the first mile.

"The race was going out pretty slow," Stockard said. "I probably should have pushed a little harder. We certainly knew we could be in the front pack right away and if we held the whole way, we'd be in good position to win."

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Before Heps, only a couple of the Tigers had experienced a Heps loss. But according to Brady, the loss will not be a setback.

"I hope it's a motivating factor," he said. "I certainly have not changed my outlook. We're still going to try to win the District meet."

Men's cross country will return to action Saturday in the NCAA District II meet at Penn State, where it hopes to win a qualifying spot for the national championships by finishing first or second in the longer-than-usual 10K race. The NCAA Championships will be held Nov. 20 in Ames, Ia.