Individuals shine for men's track in first home meet

As members of the women's track team were setting records in North Carolina, the men's track team opened its home outdoor season in mid-year form. Five Tigers won events and several others finished just out of the top spot Friday at Weaver Track and Field Stadium.

On the track, freshman Jon Kieliszak claimed the 800 meter title in 1 minute 53 seconds, and senior Tensai Asfaw bested his competitors in the 5,000 — finishing in a time of 14:31.19.

Princeton was also dominant in the field events. Senior Scott Denbo once again claimed first place in the shot put with a toss of 18.20 meters in his quest for the Tiger record held by August Wolf 82. The Tigers nearly swept the event, as freshman Rocky Craley finished second, throwing 15.92 meters.

Freshman classmates Josh Probst and Steve Wiley walked away with the javelin and high jump titles, respectively. Probst threw 60.60 meters and Wiley jumped a height of 2.06 meters.

"I was going for a [personal best], but faulted on my last attempt," Wiley said. "The team as a whole did well. Everyone was pretty pumped up. The team likes running outside a lot more than inside."

In addition to the impressive first-place finishes, several Tigers placed just one step down on the medal stand. Freshman Josh Kauke came in second in the 400 meters, running a time of 49.41. In field events, senior Jon Jessup finished second in the pole vault at 4.80 meters and freshman Marcus Ford-Bey also placed second in the triple jump, jumping 14.01 meters.

Princeton senior David Foster and freshman Jeff Key finished fourth and fifth in the 400 meter hurdles with times of 55.68 and 55. 71.

Princeton boasted some strong team performances to add to the individual successes. The 4x100 meter relay team finished second in a time of 42.66, .2 seconds behind local team Rider University.

The Tigers, who had originally planned to compete at two meets this weekend — at the Texas Relays in Austin, as well as at home — decided to keep the team together in one location instead.

Princeton will actually send teams to two different meets on Friday, as part of the team travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to compete in the SeaRay Relays. Other Tigers will be in action in a quad meet at the University of Pennsylvania against Penn, Penn State and Villanova.