Women's track finishes second in Ivy meet with Penn and Yale

The women's outdoor track season continued to pick up steam as the Tigers came in second behind Penn this weekend at an Ivy Meet. Princeton raced against both Penn and Yale, and though Penn won the meet with 75 points, Princeton's 64 were enough for second. Yale barely trailed in third with 63.

The scores are representative of the competitiveness of the Ivy League this year, with several unexpected teams, including Princeton, vying with the traditional powers for the outdoor track title.

The Tigers have a lot of young talent, which makes strong leadership that much more important. Fortunately, senior captains Lauren Simmons and Catherine Casey have more than stepped up. Placing first in the 1500m and 3000m races last weekend, respectively, the duo have accounted for a healthy portion of the Tigers' success, while at the same time helping the team's younger members adjust to college running.

"Lauren has been an incredible leader for the team this year," Casey said. "She motivates people through her words and support, but she also leads by example through her hard work in practice and her incredible competitiveness in meets."

Casey's winning time in the 3000m was 9:48.29, while Simmons took the 1500m in 4:26.55. In addition, sophomore Emily Kroshus finished fourth in the 1500m with a time of 4:40.47. Senior Holly Huffman and junior Sarah Rivlin finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 3000m.

Other Tigers performed solidly as well. Freshman Brooke Minor won the high jump with a leap of five feet, eight inches, and sophomore Chelo Canino took the pole vault title, clearing 12'4". Sophomore Betsy Kennedy and junior Rachel Rosemyer finished second and third in the discus, with throws of 133'10.5" and 133'9", respectively.

Freshman Jen Byrd placed in two events, with a win in the 100m hurdles in 15.05 seconds and a second place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 34'8.5". Byrd's showing is indicative of the strong efforts being given by the Tigers' talented freshman athletes. Freshmen such as Byrd, Minor, and Chanel Lattimer have been consistently earning points for the team all season.

"The freshman class has been really impressive this year," Casey said. "They stepped in to the program and started contributing right away. It usually takes a while for freshmen to adjust to college running, but they have done a great job and have already contributed a lot for the team."

Princeton had several other strong efforts, including senior Natalie Deffenbaugh's second place finish in the 800m with a time of 2:14.05. Sophomore Hasina Outtz finished first in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:02.61 and freshman Lattimer finished third in the 200m with a time of 25.89.

The Tigers are a scant four weeks away from Heps, and, as always, a win there remains the focal point of the season. Princeton finished third in indoor Heps after coming in seventh last year, and looks to better both performances at the outdoor championships. If it does, it could be the definitive signal that the women's track program has finally emerged from the slump in which it has been in recent years.

"We have had our sights set on Heps all year," Casey said. "The indoor meet was a huge jump for our program, but we still weren't totally satisfied, and have been looking to the outdoor meet ever since. I think we have the ability to compete with the best in the league."

Though Penn and Cornell will be tough foes come May 11, the Tigers have shown the potential and focus thus far to at least repeat their accomplishment during the indoor season, and perhaps surpass it.