This weekend the men's track team prepares to take on some of the toughest competition in the country as it participates in the National Open meet at Penn State.
The Tigers are coming off a third-place finish in a tri-meet against Penn State and Connecticut despite some impressive individual performances. Many of the Tigers' top runners did not compete in this meet, however.
Stiff competition
The upcoming National Open will take place on both Friday and Saturday and involve teams from across the country.
"This will be one of the top collegiate meets in the nation," head coach Fred Samara said. "Teams from Ohio State and Michigan, among others, will be there."
The Wolverines — No. 2 according to the United States Track Coaches Association poll — are coming off an excellent performance at the Meyo Invitational tournament in South Bend, Ind. Michigan is led by sophomore Nick Willis and junior Nate Brannen, who both run sub-four-minute miles.
The Wolverines also expect good showings from junior Braylon Edwards — a star wide receiver on the football team — who runs the 200m dash in 21.82 seconds, and senior captain Chris Yee, who runs the 400m dash and leads their 4x400m relay squad.
The No. 18 Buckeyes have consistently fielded strong teams this season and have dominated their last two meets. Ohio State placed first in this meet last year and are expected to compete for the win again.
The Buckeyes are led by senior Dan Taylor, a five-time All-American for throwing. Ohio State will also look for strong performances out of junior Seth MacCarter, who has provisionally qualified for the NCAAs in the pole vault, and sophomore John Morris in the 600m dash.
The Tigers will again face the homestanding No. 10 Nittany Lions, to whom they lost in last weekend's meet by a half a point. Also competing in the nine-team field is No. 13 Cornell.
Tigers' outlook
At this meet, Princeton will be looking for outstanding performances from the distance and middle distance teams — 400m and longer.
"We plan to run our best medium distance team in the hope that we will qualify for the nationals," Samara said. "We should expect some top times as we prepare for the [Ivy League Heptagonal Championships] in three weeks."
This unit is led by seniors Robert Hulick and co-captain Jonathon Kieliszak. The Tigers will also look for another strong performance from sophomore John Basler, who won the mile run in last week's meet.
Samara also said, however, that the throwers will train this weekend rather than compete in the meet. The Tigers won both throwing events last weekend, led by senior Josh McCaughey's 35 lb. weight throw that surpassed the provisional NCAA qualifying mark.
This meet will pit the Tigers against strenuous competition in preparation for the Heps, which will take place Feb. 28 and 29. Princeton has won 36 total Heptagonal Championships — counting cross country, indoor track and outdoor track — 31 of them coming since 1980. That is the most of any Ivy League school in that time. The Tigers won the indoor track championship from 1998 to 2002 and hope to reclaim the title again this year.
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