Men's, women's track excel in Pomona Invitational

It's not too often that a team can split its roster, send a group of its strongest athletes to a competition focused on individual results, send the rest of the squad to a team competition and be successful in both. But that is exactly what the men's and women's outdoor track and field teams did this weekend.

Several athletes from the men's and women's teams made the cross-country trek to Walnut, Calif., to compete in the Mt. Sac Relays. The Relays feature the top collegiate talent from across the nation. For many Tigers, the meet was an opportunity to showcase their abilities on a national level, a rare opportunity for Ivy League competitors. They did not disappoint.

Senior Liz Morse placed third in her heat — 21st overall — in the 800-meter race. This stellar result came only a day after Morse had a personal collegiate best in the Pomona Invitational with a time of two minutes, 9.88 seconds in the same event. Her time was good enough to qualify her for the NCAA Regional Championships at the end of the season.

Sophomore Cack Ferrell and senior Emily Kroshus continued to shine in the distance events. Ferrell finished fourth overall in the 1,500m event with a time of 16:39.52, which was also faster than the NCAA regional qualifying standard.

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the weekend belonged to Kroshus, who beat the qualification standard for the 10,000m event by over thirty seconds. Her time of 33:32.45 placed her third in the event, and she was the top collegiate finisher. Sophomore Meredith Lambert finished seventh in the same event, which was particularly impressive considering it was her first time racing in the 10,000m event.

Not to be outdone by her track teammates, senior pole vaulter Chelo Canino cleared 3.85m, just a few centimeters off her personal best, to take second in the event.

The women's exemplary performances were summed up nicely by Morse.

"All in all it was a good weekend for us in California," she said.

The men's team had an equally strong contingent of runners in the Relays.

Senior Jon Kieliszak finished third in his section and 30th overall in the 5,000m run. Sophomore teammate Ben Stern finished third in his section, which put him in 65th place overall.

At home, the men's team faced Rutgers and Columbia at Weaver Field.

Junior Justin Reed had a personal best time of 48.19 seconds in the 400m dash. The time was good enough for second in the meet and is the second fastest in the Ivy League this year.

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Junior Alexis Tingan won the 800m event by just over a tenth of a second with a time of 1:53.29.

Junior Ryan Carpenter finished just a few hundredths of a second behind his personal best time to finish second in the 400m hurdles at 53.76.

Freshman Paul Rosa also had a tremendous race, finishing second in the 1,500m run at 1:58.10.

Freshman Nick Crumpton took second in the long jump with a leap of 7.14m. Seniors Rocky Craley (16.83m) and Josh McCaughey (60.96m) won the shot put and hammer throw, respectively. Their distances were the best in the Ivy League so far this year.

The Tigers' performance at home and the tremendous individual results from California promise great success for Princeton in the upcoming weeks.

"It looks as though we are coming together as we get ready to compete in the Penn Relays this weekend and the Heptagonal Championships in a few weeks," Reed said.

The Tigers hope to keep their momentum rolling into the Penn Relays next weekend. The Relays are one of the most prestigious track events in the world and draw tens of thousands of fans.