Maag sets new mark in 3,000m

Both of the 3,000-meter runners became NCAA provisional qualifiers with these times. In the overall race, Maag finished in fifth place and Nightingale finished seventh. Villanova’s Robert Curtis won the race with an impressive 7:50.17, three seconds ahead of Georgetown’s Andrew Bumbalough. Princeton and Georgetown were the only colleges with two runners in the top 10 finishers.

“The 3,000-meter race was the highlight of the day,” men’s head coach Fred Samara said. “Both Michael Maag and David Nightingale each ran an exceptional race under eight minutes in a very fast field of runners.”

Maag and Nightingale were not the only Tigers to turn in impressive performances at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational last weekend at the Armory Track & Field Center in New York City.

In the men’s distance medley relay “championship” race, Princeton finished fifth in a pack of 13 teams. The Tigers ran a time of 9:55.59, finishing behind only Texas, Arkansas, BYU and Georgetown. The Orange and Black also participated in the 4x800m relay “championship” race and finished seventh in a field with some stiff competition.

In the men’s 4x400m relay “college” event, the Tigers finished second with a time of 3:17.64, just behind Hampton’s 3:17.11.

For the women, freshman Brooke Russell finished eighth overall with a speedy 2:56.79 performance in the 1,000-meter “championship” race. The winner of the race was Lauren Lewis from Arkansas in 2:52.81. Two Oklahoma runners finished in the top 10 just in front of Russell, and Anna Aagenes from rival Penn rounded out the top 10.

Princeton also saw success in the high jump, long jump and pole vault.

In the men’s high jump “championship,” sophomores Justin Frick and Ian Fox both cleared six feet, 8.25 inches to finish in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Texas’ Raymond Harris claimed the event with a jump of over seven feet. The Tigers and Longhorns were the only teams with two finishers in the top 10. Junior Duane Hynes had a mark of 22’5” in the “college” long jump, and junior Steve Slovenski cleared 15’3” in the “college” pole vault.

Freshman Dennis Walsh performed well in the 1,000-meter “championship” race, finishing 16th overall in 2:28.48. Sophomore Ben White was just .2 seconds behind Walsh in 18th place. Villanova’s Sean Tully won the race in 2:23.42. The Ivy League made its presence known, however, as three Columbia runners finished ahead of Walsh and White in fifth, eighth and 14th place.

“I think the main issue that we face in the future is that we need everyone to be competing well in a 100 percent team effort,” Samara said.

Senior Leanne Bellar and sophomore Christine Brozynski both competed in the women’s 500-meter “championship” dash, finishing right next to each other in 42nd and 43rd place respectively. Bellar also competed in the 400m “championship,” finishing 75th.

Freshman Lauren Barber ran in the women’s 60m hurdles “championship.” She finished in 36th place in a competitive field of about 90 runners.

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In the women’s “college” 800m run, Princeton’s senior Liz Bergold and freshman Libby Bliss had impressive times. Bergold finished the race in eighth place with a time of 2:14.29, and Bliss ended up in 22nd place in a large field in 2:16.95.

“The competition at the New Balance event was probably the strongest we have encountered so far. Ultimately, we want everyone to set a personal best at the Heptagonal Championships,” senior pole vaulter Courtney Regan said. “In these next few weeks, we will have to prepare mentally as well as physically in order to accomplish this goal.”

Both the men and women’s teams will be back in action next Saturday, taking on Ivy League rivals Yale and Harvard in a tri-meet at Yale.