The men's and women's indoor track and field teams both fell short of a title at the 2006 Indoor Heptagonals, the Ivy League track championships, but they did not leave Hanover, N.H., entirely disappointed. The men's team finished second overall behind the defending champions, Cornell — who claimed both the men's and women's titles — while the women's team took fifth overall.
Though several Tigers had strong performances over the two-day meet, senior distance runner Cack Ferrell stood out.
In her final Indoor Heps, Ferrell took Co-Athlete of the Meet honors after winning both the mile and 3000 meter races in convincing fashion. Ferrell shared the laurels with Yale senior Joslyn Woodard, who took three victories over the weekend in sprint and field events.
Ferrell's first win came in the mile race. The race, as expected, was a showdown between Ferrell and Yale sophomore Lindsay Donaldson, who finished a half second behind Ferrell at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet a few weeks ago. Ferrell took a second victory this weekend and, in the process, set a new Indoor Heptagonal meet record time of four minutes, 43.66 seconds. Donaldson finished just a tenth of a second behind her.
The mile race was the strongest event for the Tigers, who took four out of the top seven spots. Juniors Caroline and Catha Mullen and senior Susanne Andrews all finished within 10 seconds of their winning teammate. Ferrell went on to win the 3000m run in dominant fashion, finishing more than 10 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
Rounding out the distance events for the women, junior Mia Swenson took fifth place in the 5000m run with a time of 16:43.14.
The men's team's quest for the title was also anchored in large part by the team's distance runners.
Senior Frank MacCreery continued his dominant indoor season, this time in the 5,000m run. MacCreery won the event in 14:15.01 — more than 10 seconds faster than his nearest competitor. Sophomore teammate David Nightingale edged MacCreery in the 3000m race, finishing at 8:12.08 for a one-two Princeton finish. Freshman Michael Maag trailed only two seconds behind the winning pace to take fourth.
In the 1000m mid-distance event, sophomore Kurt Kuehne finished in third place, less than a second ahead of teammate and fifth place finisher junior Eric Beights.
Senior Ray Lenihan took second in the 60m hurdles despite running a blazingly quick 7.96 second race. Dartmouth senior Ikechi Ogbonna ran his fastest race of the season for the win and a new meet record time.
Freshman Alex Pessala added another victory to his collegiate resume by taking first place in the weight throw. Pessala was nearly untouchable for the indoor season, winning or placing in the weight throw in every meet the Tigers competed in. He won the indoor championship with a 17.62 meter throw, 0.3m ahead of the second place finisher.
Going into the second day of racing, the men's team enjoyed a small lead over perennial rival Cornell. The Tigers could not match the depth of the Big Red, which sealed a victory after an impressive performance in the high jump. Cornell took third, fourth, fifth and sixth in the event to crush any hopes of a late Princeton rally.
Next week, the Tigers will compete in the broader Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship, which will feature schools from up and down the East Coast.
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