High hopes came unceremoniously crashing to the ground for the women's cross country team as its quest to surprise the Heptagonal Championships field with an upset ended in a disappointing seventh-place finish.
The Tigers hoped this would be the race where they would finally perform to their potential. Things looked hopeful as two of Princeton's top runners — junior Emily Eynon and senior Carrie Miller — each finished with faster times than they ran at the Van Cortlandt course last year. But even that improvement was not enough this time around.
Yale won the meet — which took place on Oct. 27 — with 47 points. Brown and Columbia followed the Elis closely, with 55 and 62 points, respectively.
"It was a tough race," Miller said. "We always have a few who have a great race but we just can't seem to get it together." Vroom, vroom
The Tigers struggled to keep pace with the competition, which was significantly faster than last year. While Eynon ran a time that was 10 seconds faster than her sophomore-year effort, she placed five spots lower in the final standings this time. Brown's Sara Tindall, who has dominated the race for the past two years, lowered her 1999 winning mark of 17 minutes, 50.9 seconds by almost 20 seconds to 17:32.0. The top five finishers this year all came in below Tindall's original winning time from last year.
But Princeton isn't looking for excuses or justifications.
"I think you go out there and you run as fast as you can," Eynon said. "Afterwards it's easy to think of excuses, but I think you just do the best you can on any given day."
Freshman Emily Kroshus led the Tiger pack with a 20th-place finish. She was followed by Eynon and Miller. Junior Holly Huffman and freshman Rebecca Snyder rounded out the top five for Princeton. But despite leading the team, Kroshus was unhappy with her performance.
"I started way too fast," Kroshus said. "I had a big lead but when I hit the hills I just died. It was stupid running and I paid for it. The other girls ran more evenly, and when they caught up I was toast."
Kroshus cites the jump to collegiate racing as her biggest challenge. Noting that for the first time she can't go out and expect to win with no eye to strategy, Kroshus is spending the time before the next meet working with head coach Peter Farrell on race tactics.
"I've been running suicidal races," Kroshus said. "But I'm looking at this fall as a transition."
Eynon, who finished 27th in the meet, also mentioned speed progression as a personal challenge she's focusing on for the coming week.
"I tend to start out at the back and make my way up," Eynon said. "You have to realize that the race isn't won after the first mile. I have a lot of patience, but maybe I'll go out faster next time."
Home stretch
The time to make these improvements is growing short as the Tigers head into Districts this weekend, which will determine whether they qualify for the NCAA Championships. After staying on campus for Fall Break to prepare, Princeton feels ready to compete. The team is also hoping for the full recovery of junior Catherine Casey, who competed in Heps despite an injured hip.
"This is our focus," Miller said. "We're going to use the great races that different individuals have had to inspire us."
"We just need to bring it all together," Eynon added. "We're on the brink of doing that."
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