M. track finishes strong at Armory, Bucknell, sets two records

At this point, it's all about Heps and the post-season. As the indoor track season winds down, the chances to qualify for either the IC4A or NCAA championships grow fewer and fewer, adding a sense of immediacy to the last couple of meets of the year. Though multiple Tigers attained qualifying marks for a post-season tournament at last weekend's Armory Invitational in New York, NY, sophomore thrower Josh McCaughey as well as the distance medley team went a step further, smashing two school records in the process.

McCaughey broke Dave Pellegrini '82's 22-year-old record of 69 feet, 3.5 inches in the 35-pound weight throw with an effort of 69-6.5, a throw that will most likely qualify him to compete in the Men's Indoor Track NCAAs for the second year in a row. The NCAAs typically take the top 15 throwers, and McCaughey's mark is the fifth best in the nation thus far this year.

McCaughey attained All-American status last year, placing 14th overall in the 2000-01 NCAAs.

The distance relay medley team of senior Ryan Smith, junior David Dean and sophomores Josh Kauke and John Kieliszak also set a school record with their time of 9 minutes, 42.14 seconds, breaking the old time of 9:42.54, set in 1994. The team's time provisionally qualifies it for the NCAAs as well.

"The only disappointment had to be that for personal reasons Coach Brady wasn't able to be there to watch us set the school records," Kauke said.

Smith also had an IC4A-qualifying time with a third-place finish in the 800-meter, at 1:51.09. Other Tigers who qualified for IC4As include senior Kevin Gallagher, who placed fifth in the mile with a time of 4:09.82, and sophomore Tristan Colangelo, who came in ninth in the 3000m with a mark of 8:13.97.

In addition to the Armory Invitational, a cadre of Princeton track athletes participated in a meet at Bucknell, several of whom placed high.

Junior Josh Ordway and sophomore Dan Mackenzie both ran IC4A-qualifying times, adding to the growing number of Tigers preparing for that event. Austin Smith finished first in the 3k, and junior Ed Zysik won the 800m for Princeton.

"Our main goal for the season has been winning Heps," said Kauke, "We're hoping to go up to Cornell and avenge our loss last year to UPenn in outdoor, and retain our indoor title. Tora [Harris] and Josh [McCaughey] are looking unbeatable, and we've been pretty consistent at middle distance as well."