Men's track wins indoor Heps title

There's nothing like tradition to inspire motivation.

Princeton has a long tradition of excellence in both academia and athletics, and the men's indoor track and field team did its part to uphold those traditions, winning the 2002 Heptagonal Indoor Championships yesterday.

The Tigers came into Heps as four-time defending champions, and exited with a fifth year added on to that streak.

The field, consisting of all eight Ivy League universities and the Naval Academy, competed over the weekend in Ithaca, NY.

Many athletes earned points, contributing to Princeton's final tally of 127.

The closest competitors, Harvard and Dartmouth, both had 81 after the 19 events of the competition.

Cornell, with home field advantage, led after the first day of the meet, but finished fifth overall.

Sophomore Jon Kieliszak won the mile with a time of 4:09:14, and was also part of the winning 4x800 team, joining senior Seamus Whelton, senior Ryan Smith, and junior David Dean. Their winning time was 7:39:10.

Princeton performed well in the pentathlon, with junior Javius Wynn coming in an extremely close second and Tyler Bengston taking fourth.

Wynn finished with a time of 8.22 seconds in the 60m; distances of 6.82m and 12.08m, in the long jump and shot put, respectively; a height of 1.99m in the high jump; and a time of 2:51.38 in the 800m run.

Wynn's total score of 3854 was just four points off the winning mark, set by Taylor Smith of Dartmouth. Sophomore Tyler Bengston finished with 3498 points, and had marks of 8.86 seconds, 6.51m, 13.76m, 1.69m, and 2:49.44 in the five events.

Senior Tora Harris, one of the team's stars, placed first in the high jump with a height of 2.18m. Freshman Mike Weishuhn also placed high in the event, ending up in a tie for second with a jump of 2.09m.

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

In addition, Dwaine Banton took fifth in the long jump with a leap of 7.18m, as did Marcus Ford-Bey in the triple jump. Ford-Bey's leap was measured at 4.40m.

Princeton was well-represented in the shot put as well, taking both first and third place. Paul Lyons led with a throw of 16.80m, while Rocky Craley narrowly came in third after a toss of 16.18m.

As expected, the Tiger weight throwers put forth a stunning effort, taking three of the top five positions.

Sophomore Josh McCaughey, who set a school record a few weeks ago at the Armory Invitational — also in upstate New York — came in first with a throw of 20.18m.

Sophomore Mark Smith and senior Liam Morton rounded out the Princeton contingent, placing fourth and fifth with throws of 18.13m and 17.93m, respectively.

The distance medley relay team, which also set a school record at the Armory Invitational, came up slightly short of the goal at Heps, but still finished in a strong second place with a time of 10:07.71.

Freshman Alexis Tingan, sophomore Rob Hulick, senior Kevin Gallagher, and sophomore Tristan Colangelo comprised the squad.

Gallagher and Colangelo both ran and placed in other races as well. Gallagher finished fourth in the mile with a time of 4:11.03, while Colangelo placed sixth in the 3k with a showing of 8:30.92.

The Tigers will seek to continue their tradition of winning during the outdoor season, which starts in a matter of days.