Cross Country: Leung, Cabral lead charge at Invitational

If there’s ever a time to realize that a team has room for improvement, that time is Pre-Nationals.

The No. 5 women’s cross country team finished in a respectable third place Saturday at the Pre-Nationals Invitational hosted by Indiana State. The solid performance was tinged with disappointment, however, as No. 9 Florida avenged its loss to Princeton two weeks ago at the Notre Dame Invitational.

The Tigers had a busy weekend, as another contingent of the team ran at home in the Princeton Invitational on Saturday morning, taking an impressive fourth out of nine teams despite the absence of Princeton’s top seven runners.

As the Tigers competed in the White Race six-kilometer event at Pre-Nationals, they trailed top-ranked Washington, who finished first, and Florida, who claimed second-place honors. This was a reversal of the Oct. 2 result at Notre Dame, when Princeton ceded one spot to powerhouse Washington, and Florida came in third.

“Going into this race, we knew that Washington would be a tough team to beat, but Florida came up as a surprise,” said junior Sarah Cummings, who finished second in the Princeton pack Saturday.

Led by senior co-captain Liz Costello, who hammered out a time of 20 minutes, 44.7 seconds for sixth place, the top five runners averaged 21:13.6. The next four — Cummings, junior Ashley Higginson, senior and co-captain Reilly Kiernan and sophomore Alex Banfich — crossed the finish line within 23 seconds of each other and finished in the top 45 in a field of 247. Freshman Mel Newbery and junior Liz Deir rounded out the Tigers’ representation in Indiana. Kiernan is also an associate news editor for The Daily Princetonian.

A decisive factor in this race was the state of the course: The heavy rain that hit New Jersey this past weekend also went through Indiana last week, making the course soggy and slow.

Those who ran at Pre-Nats certainly faced better weather than those at home: The five girls who ran on the West Windsor course suffered stinging rain and occasional strong headwinds.

Freshman Alexis Mikaelian, who finished first among the Princeton women at the Invitational, said, “There was no traction; it was so slippery. At the turns, so many people fell! Plus it was just freezing.”

This race was also the first time many of the freshmen — who comprised the majority of the pack at home — tried their hand at a 6K. But the Tigers found success at the new distance.

The team looks forward to Heptagonal Championships next Friday, in which it will fight for a fourth straight Ivy League title.

“For Heps, I think our main focus is to just to all be healthy,” Banfich said.

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Men finish in second

Sometimes being the best is just not enough.

Sophomores Brian Leung and Donn Cabral dominated last Saturday’s Princeton Invitational, pulling away from the lead pack to seize the top two spots. The three other scoring Tigers ran one of the best — if not the best — races so far of their college careers. But a mere five-point deficit to the University of Texas deprived the men’s cross country team of a victory.

“The guys ran tough,” head coach Steve Dolan said. “And they ran really well. But you have to give Texas credit.”

The two teams were evenly matched: Princeton boasted the most talented athletes, but Texas had the most depth. By snagging six of the top 15 places, the Longhorns kept their score at 35, sending the Tigers to second with 40.

Fourteen teams and nearly 200 runners competed in the eight-kilometer race, which was held on West Windsor Field on Saturday. But the race quickly turned into a three-way battle among the Tigers, the Longhorns and the weather.

Pelting rain, high winds and the season’s lowest temperatures to date rendered the course soft, muddy and slow.

Leung established his authority at the very start of the race. He retained the lead throughout and won in 24:54.8.

Cabral also raced intelligently, making a strong move in the last mile and surging ahead of the competition to capture second.

Sophomore Joe Stilin finished third for Princeton and eighth overall in what Dolan said was the best race of Stilin’s college career. Junior Mark Amirault finished in 11th place.

“Today showed that the team is only improving and getting stronger,” Dolan said. “It should be interesting to see what they can do in a couple of weeks.”