Men's track's Harris outduels Olympian

Continuing its string of impressive early-season performances, the men's track team posted strong showing at two meets over the weekend. While most of the team competed in the Penn Invitational at the University of Pennsylvania, several Tigers traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Sea Ray Invitational.

For senior high jumper Tora Harris, it was well worth the trip.

Harris outjumped Olympian Steve Smith and this year's indoor champion Shaun Guice of Purdue on his way to the high jump title, with a jump of 7 feet, 3.25 inches. The mark is exactly one inch off the Princeton record — a record that belongs to Harris.

Not all of the Tigers fared as well in Tennessee, however.

Senior shot put expert Scott Denbo and senior pole vaulter Jonathan Jessup did not post results in their respective events, according to the University of Tennessee's official results.

While Harris' jump may have been the most spectacular achievement by a member of the team this weekend, it was by no means the only victory.

While the Tigers finished third with 157 points, Penn State took first with 215.5 points. Several Princeton runners, however, stood atop the medal stand at the end of their events.

Sophomore Jonathan Bell captured the 3000 meter title with a time of 8 minutes, 20.12 seconds. Junior Paul Morrison finished less than one second behind Bell with a time of 8:20.52.

"I missed my [personal best] by about four or five seconds," Bell said. "The meet went pretty well overall. A lot of guys ran in different events from what they're used to."

Not to be outdone by their teammates on the track, two Princeton throwers posted wins on the field. Freshman Rocky Craley won the shot put at Penn with a throw of 16.65 meters. Craley's classmate Josh McCaughey claimed the hammer throw crown with a toss of 60.45 meters.

On the whole, the team looked to the Penn Invitational as a means to an end, rather than a meet to win. With three of the Tigers' best competing elsewhere, Penn won events that would have been hotly contested by the absent Princetonians.

"Our three top guys were down there [in Knoxville]," Bell said. This wasn't necessarily a meet to win. It was really a building block for later in the season."

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With the success the Tigers have had early this spring — Denbo and Harris have already earned provisional trips to the NCAA Championships — the team hopes to build on its three-year winning streak at the Heptagonal Championships.

"We basically have two goals this year: winning Heps and IC4As and sending guys to nationals," Bell said.

The Tigers will take their next steps toward those goals Saturday, when they host Iona, St. John's and Manhattan College in a quad meet at Weaver Track and Field Stadium.