Kroshus 81st at NCAAs; without her, w. cross country wins ECACs

There's nothing better than ending a season on a high note.

The women's cross-country team did just that when Princeton wrapped up its season this weekend with a pair of events. Most of the team journeyed to New York, where they competed in and won the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship. Junior Emily Kroshus, however, competed elsewhere at the NCAA Championships as an individual, and took home 81st place.

The ECAC win was especially sweet for the team. The meet took place at Van Cortlandt Park, site of the annual Heps meet, and so the Tigers were able to get extra experience on the course as they took home the ECAC trophy.

Junior Pilar Marin led the Tigers, finishing in fifth place with a time of 18 minutes, 52.1 seconds. Sophomore Maggie Moore came in second on the team, seventh place overall, crossing the finish line in 19.01.1. Junior Kate Reid came in close behind, finishing with a time of 19:04.8, good enough for eighth place overall.

"I think the most impressive performance on the team came from Maggie Moore," Marin said. "She's worked really hard and improved every race. Our coach had told Kate Reid and I to run together, and adding Maggie to our pack really helped secure the win."

Senior Liz Grau placed 25th overall with a time of 19:40.3, and Susan Andrews finished in 34th place with a time of 19:46.3. Senior Becca Hylander crossed the finish line in 20:52.0, placing 84th.

Princeton won the event two years ago, but finished fifth last year.

Meanwhile, at the NCAA Championships, Kroshus placed 81st with a time of 21:07.5. Kroshus bettered her effort from last year, when she finished 124th, but fell short of her goal of being named All-American. The only Tiger in the event, Kroshus qualified as an at-large attendee, one of only two such spots in the region.

Shalane Flanagan of the University of North Carolina won this year's race, crossing the finish line in 19:45.9. Brigham Young won the team title, repeating its performance from last year.

All in all, the Tigers can go into the indoor track season feeling pretty well about their fall performance. As a team, Princeton will return a large portion of its top runners, and the freshmen on the team have been improving steadily over the course of the season.

"I think this bodes well for next year because it shows what depth we have," Marin said. "Plus this is where our league meet is, so ECAC's provided a great opportunity for us to gain racing experience there."