Men's cross country looks to regain Heptagonals title from Dartmouth

Friday's Heptagonal League Championships will be Princeton's toughest challenge of the year.

The Tigers are looking to avenge a loss suffered to Dartmouth in this same meet nearly one year ago, a loss that ended a streak of three consecutive Heps Champioships for the Tigers.

One major reason for Princeton's downfall last season was the absence of senior Paul Morrison, who was unable to run last year due to a knee injury. The Tigers will be without their star in this year's championship as well.

Thus far this season, the Tigers have been inconsistent, performing very well to finish second to Dartmouth at the Iona Meet of Champions but finishing poorly at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational.

"This is the point that is going to determine what our season is about — whether it's about a championship team, or whether it's about a bunch of guys who could have run pretty well," senior captain Wes Stockard said.

Without Morrison, Princeton goes from being the prohibitive favorite to needing a strong performance to top Dartmouth. The Big Green feature Tom McArdle, expected to cross the finish first overall. After McArdle, however, there is some distance to Dartmouth's second runner.

"The big weakness for Dartmouth is the gap between McArdle and the second guy," Stockard said. "We're looking to put a whole bunch of people in that gap."

Stockard himself is the most likely candidate to achieve that goal, having consistently lowered his times this season to fill the void left by Morrison. He had a blistering finish at the Iona meet, taking sixth, and ran to a 40th place finish in the brutal Pre-National field. In both, he finished ahead of Dartmouth's second runner.

Sophomore Jon Bell has kept close on Stockard's heels in the team's first two races, and he also beat Dartmouth's second runner to the line at Pre-Nationals, finishing 47th.

After Bell and Stockard, the Tigers must hope that someone emerges from their main pack of sophomores Jeff DiChiara, Ryan Teising and Tristan Colangelo, and junior Josh Ordway.

Teising ran well at the Iona Invite, but fell off the pace at the Pre-National race. According to lhis performances last year during track season, Colangelo is another possibility, but he has been hampered this fall by injuries.

"After Pre-Nats and Iona, the first thing we have to do is have everyone run up to their capability," Stockard said. "We have guys who work out fantastically that don't show up on race day."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Traditionally, Dartmouth has been the Tigers' main rival and this year is no exception. The proof lies in the look on the faces of each and every Princeton runner when questioned about the importance of this year's cross-country race.

For Stockard, Friday's race is his last chance to represent the Tigers in a meet rich with history. For the team, it is the first time in years that they enter the race as underdogs.

"There's nothing that fuels your fire more than the taste of defeat in your mouth," Stockard said. "This team has some payback to issue."