Throwers lead Tigers at outdoor invites

Last fall, the men's cross country team captured the Heptagonal championships. This past winter, the Tigers clawed their way to the indoor Heptagonal track and field championships. Less than a week after that victory, the men were up and training for the spring and an elusive triple crown.

"We all had some time off after the championship to rest any injuries ... but within a week we were back at it just as rigorously as before," senior Alex Julie said. "Winning two titles this year has made everyone hungry for a third this spring. The nice thing about starting outdoors so quickly is not having to develop a fitness base like we do in the fall before indoors, as everyone is still in pretty good shape."

This weekend, the men traveled to the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Md., for their second meet of the outdoor season. Princeton faced Navy, Penn, Rutgers and Colgate, placing second with 142 points, behind only the Midshipmen, who tallied 212 points.

In addition to slightly different events like the 100 m dash instead of the 60 m dash for sprinters, the outdoor season adds several new events including javelin, discus and the steeplechase.

"Most people look forward to switching to outdoors," Julie said. "A bigger track means wider turns, which tends to be easier on the knees, ankles, etc."

Despite these minute changes, the outdoor season benefits the athletes even more, raising the prospect of the Tigers claiming a third championship this year. Though they fell to one of their strongest opponents, the Tigers entered fewer athletes than the Midshipmen to increase training for key divisions.

"Navy is a strong team. They have outstanding athletes and coaches," Julie said. "They scored big points in a lot of events that we didn't bring competitors to. The majority of our distance squad didn't compete so that they could train hard throughout the week and not taper off. This is a strategic move by our coaches and is one that will hopefully pay off when it matters later in the season."

The Tigers had some of the strongest performances in the events in which they completed. Standout sophomore Shafiq Kashmiri captured first in the 100 m dash with a time of 10.89 seconds, barely scraping ahead of Penn's Joey Brown by .1 seconds. Senior Brian Shields finished second in one of the most intense races, where all top-10 runners completed the race in a span of .9 seconds. Shields finished at 22.19, only .6 seconds behind Brown.

The Tigers also took first in several of the field events. Freshman Justin Frick claimed the high jump at 1.99 meters, while classmate Joel Karacozoff dominated the discus, throwing 47.76 meters, almost 2.5 meters farther than the closest competitor. Sophomore Alex Pessala won the hammer throw at 55.06 meters.

Though the Midshipmen took many of the distance events, the Tigers have several athletes who have yet to debut outdoors. Both All-American junior Dave Nightingale and sophomore Michael Maag have been competitive nationally. Princeton also sees many key veterans returning to the field, including junior Will Byrd, who placed second in the pole vault, and sophomore Duane Hynes, who specializes in the Decathlon.

Women compete at Mason Spring Classic

The women's team was also led by its throwers this weekend, as junior Emma Harper finished fifth in the hammer throw and eighth in the shot put to tally five of the Tigers' 28 points at the Mason Spring Classic.

Also in the field, freshman Brittney Johnson finished fifth in the javelin while sophomore Emma Giunipero was eighth in the discus.

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On the track, sophomore Agatha Offorjebe picked up where she left off after a strong indoor season. Offorjebe placed fourth in the 200 m with 24.98 seconds and participated in the 4x100 m relay, which also finished fourth.

Junior Mawusi Arnett took advantage the opportunity to race the 400 m hurdles, an outdoor-only event, which she finished eighth, in 1:05.38.

This coming weekend, both the men's and women's teams debut at home, as they host the Sam Howell Invitational.