Women's cross country beats Rutgers, LaSalle, Manhattan to win home meet

Just as breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so is the first meet of the season an important opportunity to start things off on the right foot.

The women's cross country team created the opportunity to utilize such an analogy by putting in a strong performance this past weekend in a home meet at the Princeton Battlefield.

By competing well in the first meet, the Tigers gained vital confidence and practice necessary for a standout season. Finishing with seven of the top 10, Princeton looks to be on the cusp of a stellar season.

Such a finish represents a great leap forward in Princeton's ability to compete against other teams. In previous years, the Tigers would often place only one or two athletes in the top 5, with the others coming in further back. The close finish of the seven Princeton women means that Princeton should have an improved chance to score points in its meets this year.

As far as the individual results from the Battlefield meet went, Emily Kroshus led the Tigers by finishing third, with a time of 17 minutes, 58 seconds. Closely following her was freshman Meredith Lamber in fourth place at 18:02. The rest of the group came in shortly thereafter, headed by senior Sarah Rivlin in sixth place at 18:17, Krystal Adler in seventh place at 18:19, and junior Pilar Marin in eight place at 18:22.

Concluding Princeton's near-sweep of the top ten were sophomore Mirian Bihrle in ninth place with a time of 18:23, and sophomore Kate Reid in tenth place, who crossed the finish line at 18:26.

"We're doing much better than last year," Kroshus said. "We had such a huge pack at the end....I think we can probably challenge for Heps we have such a great team this year."

The meet consisted of Princeton, Manhattan, Rutgers, La Salle, and The College of New Jersey. Runners from Rutgers and La Salle finished first and second, respectively.

With only six meets remaining on the schedule before the Heptagonal Championships, each chance to run against live competition takes on increased significance. The successful defense of their home course should give the Tigers a confidence boost in the important upcoming meets.

Though the Tigers do not race next weekend, such a stellar start cannot help but put positive thoughts into anyone's head who has been following the team's progress.