While most of the track team spent intersession running circles around weaker opponents, two of the women's team's top distance runners took on the country's best in Boston.
Juniors Cack Ferrell and Meredith Lambert ran in the Boston University Invitational on Friday evening and proved to be up to the task. Ferrell competed in the 3000-meter race, placing third in a competitive field with a time of 9:17.01 and setting both a personal and a school record. Her previous personal best was 9:18.17, recorded at NCAA Indoor Nationals last year in Arkansas. Ferrell barely missed automatically qualifying for an NCAA berth.
Lambert finished her 5000m event in 17:05.
Ferrell, Lambert and the rest of the Tigers ran just as well Saturday night, defeating Lafayette, LaSalle, Navy and Rider in a meet at the Armory in New York City.
Senior Chanel Lattimer won the 200m dash with a time of 24.94, setting a personal best and placing her third on Princeton's all-time list. Lattimer also earned second place in the 60m dash with a time of 7.76.
Several distance runners also contributed to the Tigers' win. Sophomore Caroline Mullen beat her previous personal best time by roughly 30 seconds, winning the 3000m run in 9:40. Her twin, Catha Mullen, placed first in the mile in 4:52 and second to Ferrell in the 800. One day after her 3000m race, Ferrell ran 2:14 in the 800. Freshman Heather Iatauro won the 1000m run in 2:56.
Senior Brooke Minor turned in one of Princeton's top performances in field events, placing first in the high jump.
On the men's side, head coach Fred Samara said many athletes set personal records. Sophomore Matt McNamara, junior Ken Stringer and senior Drew Geant each achieved a personal best in the weight throw, while junior Ray Lenihan ran a best of 8.02 in the 60m hurdles. Both Lenihan and McNamara now lead the Ivy League in their respective events.
Meanwhile, senior Dwaine Banton placed second in the 200m dash and first in the long jump — his first jump of the season. Freshman David Nightingale won the mile in 4:10.24, tying the all-time record for a Princeton freshman mile, set in 1979. He was closely followed by junior Ben Stern, who snagged second place in 4:10.75.
In one of their most impressive team performances of the day, the Tigers swept the first five places of the 5000m run, led by junior Frank Macreery. Meanwhile, in the 400m run, sophomore Rich Stewart, senior Justin Reed and sophomore Dan Saltzman swept the first three places.
In addition to the wins at the Armory, the men's and women's teams had also claimed titles the previous Saturday at the Princeton Relays.
On the women's side, freshman Courtney Regan won the pole vault with a jump of 11'8". The women swept the distance medley, entering five teams. The first relay team to cross the line barely beat the second-place team, with a time of 11:54.73 to the second team's 11:55.56. Lattimer also helped the Tigers earn points, winning second place in the 60m dash.
On the men's side, sophomore Brian Shields and Reed picked up points in the 300m dash, earning first and second places, respectively. Shields edged Reed, 35.22 to 35.27. In the 600m run, Stewart and senior Alexis Tingan also took first and second places. Freshman Joshua Wolfe picked up 10 points for the Tigers in the 800m run with his first-place finish in 1:57.24.
In the weight throw, McNamara and junior Michael Daylamani swept the first two places.
Next up for the women's team is a dual meet against Penn at home on Saturday, while the men's team will face Penn State and the University of Connecticut at Penn State.
Samara said the meet was established six years ago to allow the men to face top competition. Both Samara and distance coach Steve Dolan said they anticipate a heated rivalry among the teams.
"For me, this is where the season starts," Samara said.
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