While some Tigers performed up to expectations, a host of normal highpoint scorers did not compete well and, as a result, the men's track team found that rankings are meaningless. The meet came down to the final event — the 4x400-meter relay.
Cornell needed not only to defeat Princeton, but have another team best the Tigers as well. Fans circled the 200m track, to watch this intense conclusion to the competition.
Princeton showed its depth by advancing three men to the 800m final. Junior Josh Kauke was nipped at the line by Vincent Galgano of Columbia, one minute, 51.60 seconds to 1:51.87. Junior Rob Hulick and senior David Dean placed seventh and eighth in the final, did not contribute to the point total, and are cursed to replay the race in their minds until they can exact vengeance at outdoor Heps in May.
In the 500m run, high seeded sophomores Mike Kopp and Alexis Tingham placed a disappointing fifth and sixth, respectively. Some incidental bumping during the race resulted in Kopp losing his shoe, and potentially some valuable points.
In the 1000m run, defending indoor mile champion junior Jon Kielizak (2:27.06) was beaten to the finish by NCAA outdoor 800m runner-up Sam Burley of Penn (2:26.74), who used a long kick to come from the back of the field to secure victory in the final lap.
In the 60m dash, senior captain Cameron Atkinson placed fourth in 6.92, despite entering the meet with the No. 2 seed. Chris Lambert of Harvard won in 6.80.
The men's 60m hurdles proved one of the most emotional events of the day. Princeton placed three men in the final, including first and second seeds, seniors Adrian Mullings and Javius Wynn. Mullings placed a respectable third in 8.25, but Wynn suffered from incidental arm contact with the runner in the adjacent lane, which took him out of the race both mentally and physically.
Huge upset
This disappointment was followed by one of the day's biggest upsets on the track. Senior Mike Baird had established himself throughout the season as the person to beat in the one mile, having run 4:02 several weeks ago and adding a provisional time in the 3000m. Baird took the lead at the gun and led a tight pack through 1300m at a pace that everyone could handle. Nearing the start of the bell lap, a runner passed Baird, and despite having shown in previous races that he has the fitness to beat everyone in the field, he did not respond.
Over the next 200m, one by one, most of the finalists filed past, relegating an expected 10 point scorer to the first nonscoring position, 7th place in a time of 4:13.60.
Baird came back for a strong 1200m leg in the distance medley relay, handing off to Tingan for 400m, Hulick for 800m and senior Jon Bell for a final mile against Navy. Princeton lost 9:51.21 to 9:52.21.
Bell ran a respectable 3000m, outkicking Erik Schmidt of Navy for the victory, 8:16.41 to 8:17.40.
A Princeton victory in the crucial ending stages of Sunday's program came from the 4x800m relay team composed of seniors Ed Zysik, Dean and juniors Kieliszak and Kauke.
Strong hurlers
As expected, Princeton was strong in the throws. Junior Rocky Craley won the shot with a put of 57 feet, 6.25 inches. The defending champion, junior Josh McCaughey, maintained his composure despite a heckling crowd to record a distance of 55-05.75 for third place.
It should come as no surprise that McCaughey won his third consecutive weight throw, although it was a tightly contested affair. He narrowly edged Giles Longley-Cook of Cornell, 61-03 to 61-02.25. Junior Mark Smith of Princeton threw well to place third for the Tigers.
Despite the graduation of national champion high jumper Tora Harris '02, Princeton scored well in the high jump, due to sophomore Mike Weishuhn's leap of 6-08 for second place.
In long jump, sophomore Dwaine Banton — the No. 1 seed — placed third with a best jump of 23-04.5.
Finally, in the pentathalon, senior Wynn placed second, with a total score of 3,766 points, to Mustafa Abdur-Rahim of Dartmouth's 3,974.
"Cornell had a super meet and competed well in every event, especially the relays where everyone thought they would run out of bodies," head coach Fred Samara said. "Our team ran very well on Saturday as we qualified more than we thought we would. We just did not compete well on Sunday — no excuses."
Ever gracious in defeat, the Tigers must focus on reclaiming their outdoor title from Penn and holding off and upstart Cornell.
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