Both the men's and women's cross country teams have high expectations going into this weekend's NCAA Regional Championships. Fueled by strong team and individual performances, each squad finished second in its respective Ivy League Heptagonal meet on Oct. 28. A top-two finish this weekend will earn them an automatic berth at the Nov. 21 NCAA Championships.
The men's cross country team hopes to build on a strong performance at Heps — placing three runners in the top 10 for an overall score of 47 — to carry it through at Regionals.
"Heps was a good run for us," assistant coach Steve Dolan said. "We ran competitively, and the guys are proud of the effort. It should be a good stepping stone as we head into Regionals."
While Penn is the only other Ivy League team competing in the meet, the Tigers' main competition will come from Georgetown and American University, last year's winner and runner-up, who are nationally ranked seventh and 27th, respectively. Princeton is currently unranked, and prognosticators have picked it to finish third this weekend. Though the Quakers finished third last year, this year they are not regarded as being as strong after a fourth-place finish at Heps.
Dolan said the team is optimistic about its chances of catching the Hoya and Eagle favorites.
"We'll just have to go out and run our races," Dolan said. "It's kind of fun having a shot and being competitive but not being favored to win the race."
The Tigers lost to Georgetown earlier in the year at the Paul Short Invitational, but they have not faced American head-to-head this season. According to Dolan, though, the team has improved since the Paul Short race, especially in the past few weeks.
On the men's side at Heps, a third-place effort by senior Frank Macreery led five Tigers in the top 16 for their runner-up finish. Macreery's eight-kilometer time of 24 minutes, 39 seconds was only two seconds behind the race-winner, while sophomore David Nightingale finished in fifth place, just five seconds behind Macreery. Despite a strong team performance by Princeton, including three runners in the top 10 and an overall score of 47, it could not catch race-winner Dartmouth. A Big Green harrier took the individual win, and each of the squad's top five runners finished in the top 12.
Quakers threaten
The women's cross country team, ranked 14th nationally, is the clear favorite to win at NCAA Regionals. The only other ranked opponent in the region is No. 27 Georgetown, who the Tigers have not faced this season. Also vying for the team title will be Penn, who is hovering outside the top 30 national rankings. The Quakers finished a relatively distant third behind Princeton and Columbia at Heps, though they cannot be counted out.
According to members of the team, the main objective for this meet is to finish in the top two so they can claim one of the automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. Senior stalwart Cack Ferrell, coming off a string of outstanding races, is one of the favorites for the individual title.
Princeton is coming off a strong showing at Heps, where it finished second. Led by yet another strong performance from Ferrell, the Tigers placed four runners in the top 15. Ferrell led for part of the race but finished third after a heated battle down the final straightaway.
Princeton also received strong performances from ever-dependable juniors Catha Mullen and Mia Swenson, as well as from freshman Jolee van Leuven. Junior Carolina Mullen rounded out the top Tiger finishers. The Lions, the eventual meet-winner, placed their top five runners in the top 18 and could not be caught. Luckily for Princeton, it will not see Columbia at Regionals since the Lions will be competing in a different region.
"No one on our team ran badly, and it's obvious that Columbia is a strong team this year, so we are able to be satisfied with the result," Swenson said.
For now, both teams are tapering their daily workouts in order to be fresh for Saturday's meet, which takes place at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. For the men, this is the same site as the Paul Short Invitational earlier in the year, but the course has been lengthened from 8K to 10K. Both the favored women and underdog men appear up to the challenge of earning a spot for nationals.
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