Despite the absence of top runner, senior Paul Morrison, due to a knee injury, and despite sophomore Tristan Colangelo's broken toe and junior Josh Ordway's cold, the men's cross country team launched into the season on Saturday with a solid start at the Iona Invitational.
The Tigers, with a final score of 93, came in second overall out of 25 teams. The team finished on the heels of Dartmouth, which scored 81 points.
Losing to Dartmouth by only 12 points proves that Princeton has a better chance than some would have predicted of defeating the Big Green in the Heptagonal championships, especially when considering the possibility of Morrison's return.
Third, fourth, and fifth place went to Cornell, Miami of Ohio, and Harvard, respectively. Beating out Miami of Ohio — which is ranked 25th in the national poll — was another sign of the Tigers' chance at winning the title.
Senior captain Wes Stockard led the pack, soaring into sixth place with a time of 25 minutes, 6.1 seconds.
"It was a good start for me," Stockard said. "It felt good to be out there, to get back into racing after a delayed start to the season. We were able to find the kinks that need to be smoothed out and to see how the younger runners fit in with the old."
Joining Stockard in the top 20 were junior John Bell, who finished with a time of 25:18 and placed 10th overall, and sophomore Ryan Teising who, at 25:23.7, placed 12th.
Head coach Mike Brady sees in the Stockard-Bell-Teising trio a "strong leader group" that will set the pace for the pack as it races toward Heptagonals, which is a month away.
Sophomore Jeff Di Chiara, freshman Austin Smith, and sophomore Pete Cioni each had great races as well. Their strong performances in the invitational demonstrate the team's excellent spread of talent —what Stockard called the team's "depth."
Both Stockard and Brady agree that "the race went well." But the team will only get better as injuries heal and illness subsides.
Morrison, normally the team's top runner, is currently back in training after a recurring knee injury. His return to full health could help to propel the Tigers toward their goal of winning the league. Furthermore, Ordway, who was a "little under the weather", according to Brady, is expected to be a top five runner by the end of the season. Finally, Colangelo, who ran in Saturday's race despite a broken toe, is likely to be a big asset to the team as soon he heals.
The Tigers' predominant strategy and key to their success, according to Stockard, has been and continues to be running together as a pack. On Saturday they were a little more spread out along the hilly 5-mile course than they would have liked to be.
"We've got to step up, run off the pack, gather strength from each other," Stockard said.
With this in mind, the Tigers will focus on condensing their times as they continue to train over the next two weeks in preparation for the pre-NCAA meet in Greenville, S.C. Brady looks to the Greenville meet as "a true test of our team's ability on the national level. It should give us a chance to continue to build toward our championship races."
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