Underclassmen pace w. track, dominate at Lafayette Invite

"Youth are the future."

The above maxim proved itself undeniably true this weekend as the underclassmen of the women's track team dominated the standings by taking first in three separate events.

The team divided its efforts over the weekend, sending three members off to sunny California in a bid to attain NCAA-qualifying times, before regrouping and challenging Rutgers, Iona, and Manhattan in Lafayette, Pa., at the Lafayette Invitational.

While most of the team was still training and preparing for the weekend's events back at Princeton, three of the members of the team — junior Emily Kroshus, freshman Meredith Lambert, and sophomore Chelo Canino — were in Walnut, Calif., at the Mount SAC relays competing individually in an effort to secure NCAA-qualifying times in the 10k, 5k, and pole vault, respectively.

Not only did both runners achieve their goal, they did it in style. Kroshus broke the Princeton record for the 10k while qualifying for the NCAAs, crossing the finish line at 34 minutes, 19.54 seconds. The old Princeton record, set in 1994 by Kristin Beaney, was 34:53.32.

Lambert also excelled, taking second in her race with an NCAA-qualifying time of 16:50.76. She was just seconds behind the eventual winner, Tracie Akerheilm of Texas Tech, who won the race by finishing 2.42 seconds ahead of Lambert.

Canino placed 10th in the pole vault with a jump of 11 feet, six inches.

'Outstanding performances'

Two days after the three Princeton athletes returned to the comfort of the springtime New Jersey weather, the rest of the team trekked to Pennsylvania to compete at Lafayette.

The distance squad once again had several outstanding performances. Sophomore Maggie Moore won the 5k, beating the pack with a time of 17:38.50. In addition, senior Liz Grau placed third in that event, while junior Kristel Adler took sixth. The versatile Adler also placed sixth in the 3k.

The Tigers also dominated the 1500-meter race. Freshman Cack Ferrell won the 1500m with a time of 4:28.50, and sophomore Carrie Strickland came in just two tenths of a second behind her at 4:28.70. Juniors Pilar Marin and Kate Reid took fifth and sixth in the event, respectively.

The field events also brought encouraging results. Senior Rachel Rosemeyer placed fourth in the discus, while junior Dalia Bach took third in the pole vault. Bach cleared 10 feet, four inches to take the bronze in that event.

Furthermore, freshman Molly Jones placed fifth in the triple jump, and classmate Alison Brawner also had a fifth-place finish in the high jump.

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The Tigers compete next at the extremely competitive Penn Relays in Philadelphia this coming weekend. Top athletes from around the nation come to test themselves at the relays, and so the team's performance should be a good indicator of its general preparedness and skill level.