Harriers 23rd at NCAAs

The burden of high expectations and the chilly Indiana air must have made for an uncomfortable situation for the women's cross-country team at the start of Monday's NCAA Division I Championships. Despite the conditions, however, the Tigers managed to capture 23rd overall.

The race was held on the six-kilometer (3.8 mile) LaVern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind. Princeton, which earned an automatic berth in the event after winning its second straight Mid-Atlantic Regional title, was the only Ivy League team to qualify.

Sophomore Jolee Van Leuven led the Tigers, finishing in 65th place with a time of 21 minutes, 57 seconds. She was followed by senior Mia Swenson, who placed 77th (22:09) in her final collegiate cross-country race. Freshman Christy Johnson, who has been an integral part of the team all season, finished shortly after her teammate for 80th place (22:11). Senior Catha Mullen came in 104th at 22:26 and freshman Liz Costello was Princeton's final point-scorer, crossing the finish line in 22:36 for 128th place.

Stanford, with 195 points, won the team championship, completing the course in a total team time of 1:47:34. Colorado was second with 223 points and Michigan was third with 233 points. Princeton, the only non-scholarship school in the mix, scored 454 points to get within 50 points of 17th place.

Head coach Peter Farrell was disappointed with the results, but realized that his team's performance was still extraordinary.

"It is a mark of a good program that you finish 23rd and you're not satisfied. I'm pretty proud of that," Farrell said.

Men's standout junior David Nightingale also raced at the NCAA championship as an individual. Nightingale cruised to an impressive 39th place out of 250 competitors. He completed the 10k (6.3 mile) race in 31:43.8, less than one minute behind the winner, BYU's Josh Rohatinsky.

Nightingale, who finished 89th on the same course last year, went into Monday afternoon's race with his sights set on finishing in the top 50, and securing All-America honors.

Unfazed by the poor weather, Nightingale got off to a fast start, reaching the 5k mark in about 70th place.

"Because of the wet, muddy conditions, I knew that I needed to run out hard off the line just to get into a solid position in the top quarter of the field. With the course as muddy as it was, it would have been very difficult to pass a large group of people throughout the race," Nightingale said.

From there, the junior methodically passed competitors, eventually reaching striking distance of finishing in the top 40. A late kick was enough to clinch All-America status.

Kiernan wins, Tigers fourth at ECAC Championships

While Nightingale and the top seven women's runners were preparing for the NCAAs, the rest of the team was racing at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. The meet was held in the Bronx at Van Cortland Park, where only three weeks ago the men's and women's teams rolled to Ivy League titles.

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Freshman Reilly Kiernan won the women's five kilometer (3.1 mile) run in 17:56.9. She averaged an impressive 5:46.6 per mile. Stony Brook's Dana Hastie was second (18:03.1) and Akilah Vargas of Villanova finished third (18:06.2).

Kiernan, who was in 10th after the first mile, used Van Cortland's hills to her advantage, gradually picking off competitors. By the two-mile mark, she had maneuvered into the lead and was able to hold on for the remainder of the race.

Senior Rachel Farnsworth edged out a Cornell runner, Aerial Emig, for 16th place and a time of 18:36.1. Seniors Jennifer Johnson and Alison Warren were 24th and 25th, and junior Kim Bonner crossed the finish line in 32nd place.

"I think it really speaks to the depth of our program that we can have a team competing on a high level at nationals and a second team placing fourth against legitimate and competitive programs," Kiernan, who is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian, said.

The men's team, which narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAAs, competed in the IC4A Championships, also in Van Cortland Park on Saturday. Sophomore Bryan Sharkey was eighth individually in 25:21.9. Senior Eric Beights came in 19th (25:43.4) and freshman Elliot Welder was 39th in a time of 26:09.07. Freshman Tim Branigan and senior Jeff Byrne finished 56th and 80th, respectively.