Cross Country: Tigers take fifth at NCAAs

Junior Liz Costello’s remark is definitely an understatement. The 2007 NCAA Championships were disappointing for the Tigers and disastrous for their star runner. Fortunately for the Tigers, this year’s renewal had a much happier ending. Costello expunged all memories of last year’s catastrophe, obliterating her 2007 time by more than three minutes. The two-time Ivy League champion placed 15th overall, leading Princeton to a fifth-place team finish to cap the team’s most successful season in its history.

The heavy favorites from the Western Region dominated the field of 31 teams: Washington crushed the competition with an impressive score of 79, and Oregon was a strong second.

Mid-Atlantic Region rivals No. 4 Princeton, No. 5 Villanova and No. 6 West Virginia all lived up to their rankings, battling as expected for a coveted spot in the top five. Junior Reilly Kiernan — Princeton’s fifth and final scorer — hung with Villanova’s fourth and fifth scorers until the end, edging one of them to take 77th and guaranteeing a top-five finish for the Tigers. Kiernan is also a senior writer for The Daily Princetonian.

The Tigers finished behind Florida State and West Virginia, teams the Tigers had tied earlier this season. Susan Kuijken gave the Seminoles a huge boost by finishing second overall, but Princeton still had its five scorers all across the line before Florida State or West Virginia finished. The Tigers exceeded head coach Peter Farrell’s pre-race goal of a score of 230 by 10 points, and for a moment, it looked like their team score of 220 might have been good for third or fourth. The fifth runners from Florida State and West Virginia were not far behind, however, and the teams edged out the Tigers.

“Losing to West Virginia was tough,” Farrell said, but he added that “it’s great to finish in the top five.”

Last year, uncharacteristically poor races by several key runners caused the Tigers to finish a disappointing 14th with a score of 409. This year, they finally established Princeton cross-country as one of the country’s elite programs.

“Having been to the nationals last year helped,” Costello explained. “I was very calm and confident this year, and I think that was a very good recipe.”

The returning runners from last year’s squad agreed that 2007 was a learning experience. Running under control was a point of emphasis among them: At the Heptagonal Championships, a blistering first mile left some of the runners unable to finish strongly, perhaps costing the team a perfect score. Two weeks later at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, Princeton again faded after surging to the front too early.

“They ran exactly how I asked them to,” Farrell said. “This time we went out at the right pace.”

The Tigers avoided getting caught up in the fast start, and most of them ran the first mile within two seconds of their pre-race goal. As a result, they did not threaten early in the race. Senior co-captain Megan Brandeland, who finished second among Princeton runners, was not in the top 100 at the mile-marker.

“I ran exactly as I wanted,” Brandeland said.

The Tigers did not appear to be in contention for a top spot until the very end of the race, only after displaying a great deal of discipline. Freshman Alex Banfich credited her success in part to advice from veteran teammates.

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“They all told me to stay calm,” Banfich said. “We had a race plan and we stuck to it.”

Costello kicked off the Tigers’ surge. Having hung back near the 25th spot for the majority of the race, she began to pick people off over the final kilometer of the 6K race. She once again showed off her remarkable finishing speed in the final straightaway, blowing past four runners for a top-15 finish in a time of 20 minutes, 23.9 seconds.

Princeton’s reliably tight pack came through again, with its second and fifth runners separated by less than 10 seconds. Brandeland moved up to 52nd, and Banfich finished four seconds later in 62nd. Senior co-captain Jolee VanLeuven crossed the line in 71st for another strong race, and Kiernan capped the scoring in 77th.

Princeton’s sixth and seventh runners, sophomore Sarah Cummings and junior Alexa Glencer, finished 105th and 123rd, respectively. Both Cummings and Glencer finished ahead of the fifth runners for other top-10 teams.

Though the Princeton men did not qualify as a team, two Tigers qualified individually for the NCAA Championships. Senior Michael Maag, who finished 59th in 2007, had set his sights on the All-American status of a top-40 finish. Maag, the Ivy League champion in 2007, did not have his best race but still finished 79th in a very respectable 10K time of 30:43.7. Freshman Brian Leung gained valuable experience, finishing 121st out of 252 runners.

Princeton will undoubtedly miss the veteran leadership of Brandeland and VanLeuven next year. All the same, the return of Costello — along with several other talented young harriers — should easily put Princeton in position to maintain its stranglehold on the Ivy League. If Farrell continues his recent habit of recruiting top freshmen, the Tigers should again challenge for a top spot at nationals. Expectations will be set very high. In the meantime, the women’s team will celebrate its phenomenal season and the hard work that led to its unprecedented success.