Heps last stop for Princeton runners

The men's and women's track teams will be making the long drive up to Hanover, N.H., this weekend to compete in the Indoor Track Heptagonals, otherwise known as the Ivy League Indoor Track Championships. The team to beat this weekend will be Cornell, who took top honors last year in both the men's and women's fields and, in the process, dominated several of the individual events.

But don't rule out the Tigers, who have had strong performances across several disciplines throughout the short indoor track season. Though every school will be striving for a team win, there are also dozens of individual honors to be awarded.

On the men's side, the Tigers will be looking to even the score against Cornell, who barely held on to their first place finish last year against a rallying Princeton squad.

In the distance events, Princeton teammates senior Frank Macreery and sophomore David Nightingale will be among the favorites but there has not yet been a single dominant performer in either the 3000 meter or 5000 meter events.

In the shorter distances, one of the most competitive events of the meet will be the 60m hurdles. The two clear favorites heading into the weekend are Princeton senior Ray Lenihan and Cornell sophomore Saidu Ezike.

Right now, Lenihan owns the fastest time of the season at eight seconds flat. Ezike, however, is only an instant behind Lenihan, finishing his best race only four hundredths of a second slower than the Princeton standout. At last year's Heps, Ezike took first place in the final heat of the 60m hurdles, finishing below eight seconds to edge out Lenihan.

In the field, the Tigers will look to dominate the weight throw competition. Heading into the competition, Princeton freshman Alex Pessala has left no doubt about who the favorite is. His best throw of the season of 61 feet is five feet farther than the second-best toss. He will be accompanied by senior Kenneth Stringer and junior Matt McNamara, who took second and third in last year's competition.

Ferrell goes the distance

The women's 3000m race will almost certainly be one of the most exciting events of the weekend. The race is a veritable "who's who" of All-American distance runners. Going into the weekend, Princeton senior Cack Ferrell holds the best mark of the indoor season with a time of nine minutes and 17 seconds. That time was posted nearly a month ago at the Boston University Terrier Classic on Jan. 27.

Though thanks to that performance Ferrell may have somwhat of a psychological edge going into the race, she cannot ignore the achievements of her competitors. The runners who hold the second through fourth-best times of the season in the event all share one thing in common – they are each All-Americans.

Two other Princeton athletes who plan on contending in the distance races are juniors Caroline and Catha Mullen, who have consistently been near the top of the results lists this year.

Cornell dominated the sprint events last year, but many of the team's strongest runners have graduated, potentially opening the door for an Orange and Black upset. For the Tigers, one individual upset may come in the person of freshman Agatha Offorjebe, who holds the sixth-quickest time in the 200m dash, just over a half second behind the current favorite and the defending champion, Yale senior Joslyn Woodard.

Offorjebe will be entering the event under the radar as a freshman but the rest of the field would be best off to take notice, as Offorjebe has already posted a win in the 200m event at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet at Cambridge, Mass. two Saturdays ago.

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In the field events, the Tigers will look to score points in the pole vault competition, in which they have some serious depth. Although Yale senior Molly Lederman holds the best mark in the league this season by a margin of nearly a foot, Princeton athletes comprise three of the seven best jumps on the season. As for the athlete who got closest to Lederman's 13-foot jump, that honor goes to Princeton freshman Jessica Kloss.

Although the Big Red may be the favorites heading into the event, don't be surprised if you see the Tigers challenging them for the title of best in the Ivy League. With dozens of top athletes, the Tigers have the talent to take the championship. Now it's only a matter of execution.