Freshmen runners lead men's track at Princeton Invite

With the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships looming next weekend, the men's and women's track teams had one final meet to prepare for the zenith of their seasons. The Tigers made the most of the opportunity, performing extremely well at the Princeton Invitational Saturday at Lawrenceville.

The meet was a nonscoring event against Columbia, Monmouth, Delaware, TCNJ, and Division II Kutztown.

The men continued their dominance in the throwing events, winning both the shot put and weight throw. Senior Josh McCaughey won the 35 lb. weight throw with an impressive distance of 19.6 meters, followed in second place by senior Mark Smith, who threw 17.82 m.

Senior co-captain Rocky Craley won the shot put with a distance of 16.97m, followed closely by junior Paul Lyons at 16.72m. The throw by Craley was particularly important. It was his best performance so far in a season plagued by injuries.

Also rebounding from injury was junior Mike Weishun, who won the high jump with 1.99m.

Freshmen step up

Perhaps most importantly for the future of the track team, the meet saw several breakout performances by the team's freshmen runners.

Dan Saltzman edged out a win in the 200m dash with a time of 22.3 seconds, while Aaron Reed won the 800m run, finishing in 1:54.98. Paul Rosa dominated the mile, winning the event in 4:16.81. Tim Edmond finished second in both the high jump and the long jump.

These strong finishes predict a bright future for the Tigers for many seasons to come.

Overall, Princeton won nine of 16 events, leaving the Tigers confident as they prepare for next weekend.

"It was an excellent group of performances that made it difficult to choose the 33-man roster for Heps," head coach Fred Samara said. " The meet was important to keep people sharp and continue the younger guys moving along in their training and competing."

Sprinting past the competition

The women also competed superbly, winning eight events on the weekend.

The Tigers dominated the sprinting events, led by junior Chanel Lattimer, who won the 55m dash with a time of 7.0 seconds. Senior captain Hasina Outtz won the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.45 seconds, followed by junior Jen Byrd at 8.52 seconds. Sophomore Juliette Poussot also ran a great race, placing first in the 200m dash with a time of 25.76 seconds.

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The Tigers also did well in the jumping events. Sophomore Molly Jones continued her string of success, winning the triple jump with a distance of 11.78m, almost a meter better than her closest competitor. Senior Susan Coltman won the long jump with a distance of 5.62m, in addition to placing fourth in the high jump.

The strong performances helped solidify the Tigers' roster for Heps.

"I think we got some things decided for next weekend," head coach Peter Farrell said. "We are coming around as a team and some people stepped up to being Heps competitors by posting times that moved them to the top of the list."

Both the men and the women will compete at Heps in Ithaca, New York next week for the Ivy League title.