M. outdoor track takes third, women fourth at Heps

In what can only be called a disappointing end to the regular season, the men's and women's outdoor track and field teams fell short in their bids for Ivy League dominance at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.

The men finished third overall with 115.33 points, which was not good enough to overthrow the defending champions, Cornell. The Big Red once again took the overall honors at the meet, taking first place with 155 points. The Quakers snuck in for second, beating the Tigers by just seven points.

Although the team was certainly disappointed by the defeat, if anything it seemed to have just added fuel to the fire.

"It was a crushing defeat," junior sprinter Dwaine Banton said. "But no one is really down as we realize that with harder and more dedicated training we will bounce back, pick up our faces from out of the mud and reclaim what we believe to be our birthright."

The women's meet ended with a similarly disappointing outcome with the Tigers finishing in fourth place overall with 112 points. Cornell's women scored 157 points to nab the league title and complete the dual championship sweep for the Big Red.

Despite the undesirable finish, the women were proud of what they had accomplished.

"Of course we always want to win, but we had great performances and a strong team effort," senior hurdler Hasina Outtz said. "The league is really tough, and it was going to take a lot for us to come out on top. But I am very proud of the way that we rallied as a team and went after the title."

These sentiments were echoed throughout the team.

"It was a good meet but we needed everything to come together for a victory and we didn't manage to pull off a win," sophomore distance runner Cack Ferrell said. "Everyone was pleased and there were some great performances so the coaches and athletes were pleased."

The meet started off exceptionally well for both teams — at the end of the first day the Tigers led both competitions.

Senior Josh McCaughey took his fourth-straight hammer throw Heps title to start things off for the Tigers. Fellow senior Mark Smith finished third in the same event, only 17 feet behind McCaughey.

McCaughey's win was supplemented by a strong second place from sophomore Kyle Whittaker in the pole vault.

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But the three-point first-day lead would not be a strong enough advantage to hold the Tigers through Sunday.

Senior Jon Kieliszak was the only Tiger to take a win for the men's team on Sunday, finishing first in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:47.36. It was Kieliszak's second straight Heps victory in the event, as he also took first place just a few months ago at the Indoors finals.

"Of course we were a little disappointed in our third-place finish this weekend, but sometimes events just don't go your way," junior sprinter Justin Reed said. "It happens and it's something that we'll just have to learn from. Everyone on the team gave it their all this weekend, and that's all you can ask for."

For the women, senior distance runner Emily Kroshus led the team with a phenomenal meet, which was capped off by being awarded the meet MVP title.

"The fact that we had the MVP both indoor and outdoor and have placed someone in almost every event speaks to the talent level of this team," Outtz said. "Emily really came through for us and ran herself into the ground for the team."

Kroshus took the 10,000m win on Saturday, then came roaring back the next day to take top honors in the 5,000m event, and second place in the 3,000m. She was unquestionably the most dominant athlete at the meet.

Sophomore teammate Cack Ferrel, who was awarded the Indoor Heps MVP title in the winter, completed a near-sweep in the distant events for the Tigers by taking the 3,000m event with a time of 9:27.15. The former MVP also performed exceptionally in the 1,500m run, finishing in third — just a second behind the winner.

In the field, senior pole vaulter Chelo Canino continued her Ivy League dominance with the win, posting a mark that put her in sixth place all time in the meet's history.

Although these individual efforts were not enough for a team win, they do bode well for the next two weeks of competition.

Next week, the men and women who qualified for Easterns (women) and IC4As (men) will head to Yale to compete in the prestigious regional events. After that, a portion of both teams will head south to Gainesville, Fla., the site of this year's NCAA Regional Championships. An exceptional performance in Florida will be rewarded with a trip to Austin, Texas for the NCAA Championships in June.