Men's track to compete in Heptagonal Championships

One year ago, the Heptagonal Championships came down to the final event: the 4x400 meter in which Princeton lost to Penn by a single point. At the indoor championships in March, Princeton lost by a small margin to Cornell in a tight battle that came down to the final event.

At the Heps this year, the men's track and field team hopes to win in a decisive manner to regain its title.

The historic and pageantry-filled meeting of the eight Ivy League schools plus Navy will be contested on the DeWitt-Cuyler Track at Yale University in a competition that spans all of this weekend's houseparties.

The dynamic of the meet changes from indoor, where a disproportionate number of middle distance events were held. In moving outdoors, Princeton benefits from the addition of the javelin to the schedule. Junior NCAA regional qualifier Tim Releford is currently ranked third in the league (69.00m), close behind team rivals Brian Chaput of Penn (74.00m) and Brian Benowicz of Cornell (70.88m).

The Tigers have been dominant in the throws all season, with five regional qualifiers to date, and will look to continue with a strong scoring performance this weekend. In the hammer throw, juniors Josh McCaughey (60.55m) and Mark Smith (57.99m) are currently ranked first and third, respectively. McCaughey is the two-time defending champion in the event.

Sophomore Paul Lyons (17.77m) and junior Rocky Craley (17.42m) are ranked first and second in the shot put. Lyons also enters the weekend ranked fourth in the discus (49.18m).

In the jumps, the Tigers will look to sophomore Dwaine Banton to challenge for the long jump title. He is currently ranked a close second (7.23m) to Yale's Anthony Thomas (7.29m). Junior Marcus Ford-Bey will challenge for points in the triple jump and look to improve on his season-best and fifth-ranking mark of 14.23m.

While expecting sophomore Mike Weishuhn to replace last year's most valuable athlete of the meet and eventual national champion, Tora Harris '02, would be more than slightly unjust, Weishuhn has enjoyed a productive season and enters the meet in a tie for fourth, with a best mark of 2.04m.

Running from the pack

In the sprints, senior captain and recent Spirit of Princeton award-winner Cameron Atkinson leads the team with a second seed in both the 100m (10.72 seconds) and 200m (21.56s), behind Harvard's British sprinter Chris Lambert.

Junior Josh Kauke, the runner-up indoors, enters the 800m with the third fastest time (1:51.56), behind NCAA silver-medallist Sam Burley of Penn (1:48.45). Senior David Dean (1:52.56) looks also to score some critical points in the half-mile event.

Junior Jon Kieliszak should challenge for the 1500m title, although defending champion Sam Burley may pose a threat if he chooses to run multiple events in the quest for team points.

Senior Jon Bell tops the list in the 5000m run with his 14:05 clocking from Mt. SAC. The distance runners are aided by the fact that defending champion and All-American Tom McCardle of Dartmouth is sidelined with an injury. Sophomore Austin Smith (30:38.12) and junior Jeff Dichiara (30:38.90) look to score points in the grueling 25 lap 10,000m race. The 10,000m is the only track final to be held on Saturday which allows competitors the tough prospect of doubling back on tired legs to score additional points in the 5000m contested Sunday morning.

Senior Josh Ordway (9:05.21) and junior Tristan Colangelo (9:07.45) look to improve their NCAA regional qualifying times and contest for the title in the tightly-bunched 3000m steeplechase.

Size matters

Schools are limited in the number of athletes they may enter in the meet, leaving head coach Fred Samara with some difficult decisions to make over the next several days. With a team as deep as Princeton's, entries become a matter of strategy and conjecture.

The Tigers who do approach the start line come Saturday and Sunday will do so with a strong sense of purpose and vengeance after a humiliating loss indoors.