Ferrell sets pace for Tigers

By the mid-March day when junior Cack Ferrell stepped onto a track in Fayetteville, Ark., to run in the 3,000-meter race at the NCAA indoor track and field championships, the phrase "All-American" had already become automatically attached to any mention of her name. But on that day, Ferrell turned in her strongest showing on a national stage to date, finishing third with a time of nine minutes, 24 seconds, just two seconds away from becoming a national champion.

In a year in which both the men's and women's track programs struggled to stay competitive as a team, it was the individual performances — most notably Ferrell's — that stood out.

At the cross country Heptagonals, the Ivy championship meet, the women's squad placed second overall on the strength of three top ten finishers, including Ferrell, who took fifth in the 3,000m 17:24. The men's finished sixth, with junior Frank McCreery and senior Austin Smith taking 8th and 12th, respectively.

After strong showings at NCAA regionals, both squads moved on to the NCAA Championship meet in Terre Haute, Indiana. Once again, Ferrell led the women, finishing 20th overall — and earning All-American status for the second straight cross country season — as the Tigers placed 18th. Meanwhile, the men finished 66th at NCAAs.

Ferrell kept producing as the team moved indoors for the winter, placing fourth in the 3,000m run at indoor Heps, while the women took seventh as a team. Ferrell was the team's lone competitor at nationals as she earned All-American status for a second straight season.

On the men's side, the Tigers claimed second at Heps, aided by sophomore Richard Stewart and senior Mike Kopp's one-two finish in the 500m dash.

With the arrival of spring and outdoor season, Princeton made its annual trip to the Penn Relays. The men's 4 x 800m relay team took first with a time of 7:33.94, while their 4x400m relay team won their event in 3:13.47. On the women's side, senior high jumper Brooke Minor took second with a leap of five feet, seven inches.

Though Princeton was pleased by the Penn Relays performances, just a week later, both the men's and women's team turned in disappointing showings at Heps.

The women placed sixth, despite several strong individual efforts. Ferrell earned third in the 3,000m run with a time of 9:53.49, as did junior Molly Jones, who jumped 39' 2.25" in the triple jump. Senior Chanel Lattimer placed fourth with a time of 11.98 seconds in the 100m dash.

Meanwhile, despite leading after the first day of competition, the men's team faded to fourth place, just one point behind Dartmouth and Penn, who tied for second. The highlight for the Tigers was senior Austin Smith's victory in the 5,000m race, with a time of 14:30.9. In addition, senior Drew Grant won the hammer throw with a distance of 177'4" and junior Frank McCreery took second in the 10,000m run.

A week later, at Weaver Track, junior Meredith Lambert breezed to victory in the 5,000m race at the IC4A meet as the Princeton women's team took 12th and the men's squad took 11th.

Selected runners from both the men's and women's squad will run at NCAA regionals this weekend, hoping to qualify for championships, to be held in Sacramento June 9-11. Lambert has already qualified for champs in the 10,000m. Ferrell and sophomore Catha Mullen both have a good shot at qualifying in the 1,500m, while McCreery and Smith could qualify for the 5,000m race on the men's side.