The Heptagonal Championships will take place this weekend at Dartmouth's Leverone Fieldhouse. All eight Ivy League schools plus Navy will square off for an intense two-day, team-scored battle. The Tigers look to defend their indoor track and field title and to avenge their one-point loss to Penn outdoors.
Senior captain Cameron Atkinson, 1000-yard rusher and MVP of the Princeton football team, leads the sprinters. He holds the second fastest time in the league for the 60 meters (6.89 seconds), behind Chris Lambert of Harvard (6.73). Sophomore teammate Dwayne Banton is one of eight entrants in the 60m to have broken seven seconds this season. He looks to improve on last year's fifth place finish. Junior Adrian Mullings and senior Javius Wynn have recorded the top two times in the league for 60m hurdles, at 7.98 and 8.17 seconds respectively. The 200m is not included in the men's championship, which works in the Tigers' favor as their strongest sprinters are concentrated in the shorter races.
The outcome of the championships is heavily linked to the success of the middle distance squad given the bizarre collection of events. The addition of 500m and 1000m runs means that Princeton's particularly strong and large middle distance squad can be spread among the events. Sophomores Alexis Tingan and Mike Kopp should fair well in these events.
Often, the biggest key to a team's victory is the ability to get as many men in the final as possible. A poor race in the trials eliminates any chance of scoring. As a testament to Princeton's depth in the middle distances, last indoor season four Tigers qualified for an eight-man final.
This year, the half-mile distance is being contested by junior Josh Kauke, senior David Dean, junior Rob Hulick and freshman Josh Perry. They will have to face NCAA outdoor runner-up Sam Burley of Penn and provisional NCAA qualifier Vincent Galgano of Columbia. Princeton senior Ed Zyzik and defending Heps mile champion junior Jon Kieleszak will run the 1000m for the Tigers.
"We feel like we have the best middle distance corp in the league," Dean said.
Senior Mike Baird will be the one to watch in the mile and 3000m. He has run NCAA provisional qualifying times in both events. The only person in the league who could challenge Baird is Tom McCardle of Dartmouth. However, this multiple time all-American has been hindered by Achilles injuries since the end of his cross country season so he should not be a legitimate threat to Baird. Senior Jon Bell is currently ranked second in the league for the mile with a time of 4:06.31.
The jumps seem to be one of Princeton's only weaknesses, although there are still threats in many events.
"The jump squad has unfortunately had a large number of injuries this season and a lot of us have missed meets," junior triple jumper Marcus Ford-Bey said. "However, we still have a positive outlook on Heps."
Among Princeton's jumpers, sophomore Mike Weishuhn has had severe back injuries but should still score big in the high jump; sophomore Dwayne Banton is a favorite in the long jump; Kyle Whitaker is a frosh who can score in the pole vault; and senior Dave Gary has scored at Heps in the past in triple jump and would like to do so again.
Considering all the injuries the team has faced this year, the jumpers really need to step it up to help the team win another championship.
Princeton also looks strong in the pentathalon. Senior Javius Wynn enters as the No. 1 seed, having been runner-up the past two seasons. Junior Tyler Bengsten enters the competition ranked third.
While Princeton's depth may lie in the middle distances, its strength is certainly in the throws. Junior all-American Josh McCaughey has yet to lose a Heptagonal championship, indoors or out, during his Princeton career. His best throw in the 35lb weight throw this season was six feet farther than his closest competitor. Classmate, junior Mark Smith, enters the competition ranked third, having finished fourth the past two seasons.
Sophomore Paul Lyons, though the defending shot put champion, has the third farthest throw in the league this season, behind teammate, junior Rocky Craley.
"The Dartmouth guys have talked badly of us in the past," McCaughey said. "We're ready to kick their butts up in their own house".
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