Maag, Nightingale pace strong finish

With a solid showing at the Pre-Nationals Invitational, the men's cross country team appears poised for a strong finish to its season.

With the Ivy League, District and National Championships all coming up in the next five weeks, the Tigers are "right where [they] need to be," according to junior harrier Frank Tinney.

On Saturday, led by sophomore Michael Maag and junior David Nightingale, the Princeton squad placed 13th out of 36 teams at Indiana State's Lavern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind., the site of the NCAA Championships in five weeks.

In spite of a strong field that included two of the top five teams in the nation, Stanford and Iona, the Tigers managed to finish ahead of William & Mary and Arizona State, both ranked teams. Maag, who led the Princeton runners, finished 37th overall with a time of 24:15.1 on the eight-kilometer course. Finishing closely behind him was Nightingale in 43rd place with a time of 24:20.1.

"I was hoping to finish a little higher," Maag said. "But if you had told me my time before the race I would have been pleased."

Rounding out Princeton's scorers were Tinney and senior Paul Rosa, who finished together in 82nd and 83rd place, respectively, with a time of 24:45. Other notables include junior Tim O'Neill, whose 24:56 pace garnered him 111th place and classmate James O'Toole, who ran the course in 24:57.

"We were pretty much happy with the races we ran," Nightingale said. "We were surprised when we finished that we ended up in 13th — we thought we were at least 7th or 8th."

The Tigers' 13th place finish, however, is no cause for concern as the runners, by design, are not yet in top form.

"It was a good stepping stone and it's still early," Nightingale said. "It's a good thing we're not peaking now but it was a solid performance and it bodes well for the rest of the season."

"[Pre-Nationals] was definitely a big step for the team," Tinney said, "We're in a better rhythm now so it was certainly a positive experience."

Heps on horizon

Next up for Princeton is the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, held in New York's Van Cortland Park on Oct. 27.

"We're looking to beat our main competition, Dartmouth and Columbia, and hopefully win the race," Maag said.

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The greater challenge for the Tiger harriers will come on Nov. 11 at Regionals in Lock Haven, Penn. In order to qualify for nationals as a team, the squad must finish in the top two.

"It looks like we'll have a decent shot," said Nightingale, who ran at Nationals last year. The Tigers will likely be vying with the Georgetown Hoyas for the top spot at Regionals.

Should the Princeton harriers make it to Nationals as a team, they will be aiming for a finish in the top 15, a goal they made for themselves at the outset of the season. Nationals will be held in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 20.

"We're certainly not ready yet — that's part of the plan," Maag explained. "We don't want to peak too early, but we are at the right place right now. The next five weeks will tell how well we'll finish."

In these next few weeks. the Tigers will test their skills.