The 2009 Ivy League Heptagonal Championships will go down in history: The women’s cross country team swept the top five spots, posting the first perfect score in the race’s history. The men’s team, on the other hand, suffered an agonizing defeat to Columbia, which claimed the crown by one point, the closest margin of victory at Heps since 1972.
The No. 4 women’s cross country team claimed its fourth-straight Heps title in commanding fashion. Senior Liz Costello was the first in the field to finish, at 16 minutes, 55.7 seconds. Sophomore Alex Banfich (17:12.9) crossed the line second, and she was followed closely by junior Sarah Cummings (17:15.5) in third, junior Ashley Higginson (17:18.0) in fourth and senior Reilly Kiernan (17:21.5) in fifth. Kiernan is also an associate news editor for the Daily Princetonian.
By sweeping the top five positions in the race, the Tigers posted the minimum possible score of 15. (The score posted by a team is the sum of the finishing positions of its top five runners.)
“It was really exciting to get a perfect score,” Banfich said. “There’s a girl from Harvard who always gets in our mix in the top five. This time, she came up in the second half of the race, but in the last 200 meters, our four and five girls outkicked her.”
The men were led by sophomore Brian Leung, who placed third overall with a time of 25:28.0. Sophomore Donn Cabral (25:37.9) placed second on the team, and sixth overall. Rounding out the Tigers’ top five were junior captain Rob Speare (25:46.5) in 11th overall, junior Mark Amirault (25:59.7) in 16th and sophomore Sean Wilson (26:11.8) in 23rd.
But with their success at Heps fresh in their minds, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will not dwell on the results, and instead look ahead to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Saturday. When the teams travel to University of Maryland Eastern Shore, they will look to post a top-two finish and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
The women’s team will go into Regionals confident, as it did spectacularly in Heps, its first championship meet of the season. The team is a narrow favorite to place in the top two on Saturday, and it will face powerhouses in No. 2 Villanova and No. 7 West Virginia. The Mid-Atlantic Region is notoriously tough, and if the Tigers are edged out for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, chances are high that they would still receive an at-large bid.
“This region is definitely very competitive: At one point this season, three of the top five teams were in this region,” Banfich said. “We tied with West Virginia last year …We did well at Heps, but we all know we can’t rest on that. We really have to keep the momentum going.”
The men’s team also faces stiff competition. The Tigers will have to outrun No. 15 Georgetown and No. 20 Villanova to get an automatic bid.
“We all know that Georgetown has been there on paper all season, but if they want to punch their ticket to Nationals, they’re going to have to beat us to do it,” Speare said. “We’ve put together five really good races so far. We know we can do something special. We’re going to do everything we can to upset Villanova and Georgetown.”
To do this, the men will have to work on their pack mentality. At Heps, Leung pointed out, Columbia beat the Tigers because of its strong pack, not because of its formidable individual talent.
“We wanted to come away from the race with a lesson learned,” Leung said. “As a team, running as a pack is very important. Our three to five runners are definitely going to have to run more as a pack than as individuals on Saturday.”
The Tigers gain a slight edge in the race on Saturday, as both the men’s and women’s teams visited the course for the Cappy Anderson Invitational back in September.
“Certainly just having run on it makes a difference,” Speare said. “We know what the last 1,000 [meters] feels like on those fields.” The men will run a 10K, while the women will run a 6K.
If the men’s team doesn’t make to the NCAA Championships this year, they may still send individuals to the meet. The top four finishers at each regional who are not on one of the qualifying teams are automatically granted bids, given that they finish in the top 25.
Sophomore Brian Leung went to the championship meet last year, along with Michael Maag ’09. He said he would like to see his team go on to the highly competitive meet.
“It would definitely be an invaluable experience for the team — the first time a team goes to Nationals, it’s more of a learning experience,” he explained. “It’s 250 of the best runners in the country, so it’s pretty hard not to be awestruck.”
Read More
No. 7 women’s lacrosse season ends in NCAA quarterfinals against No. 1 UNC
Hayk YengibaryanWith the loss, the career of senior attacker Mackenzie Blake comes to an end. Blake finished her career with a program-best 231 career goals and three first-team All-Ivy selections.
With the loss, the career of senior attacker Mackenzie Blake comes to an end. Blake finished her career with a program-best 231 career goals and three first-team All-Ivy selections.
No. 3 men’s lacrosse season ends in NCAA quarterfinals after 19–18 loss to No. 5 Syracuse
Hayk YengibaryanWith the win, Syracuse advances to the final four for the first time since 2013. For the Tigers, their season ends along with the career of senior standout attacker Coulter Mackesy.
With the win, Syracuse advances to the final four for the first time since 2013. For the Tigers, their season ends along with the career of senior standout attacker Coulter Mackesy.
Preview: No. 3 men’s lacrosse plays No. 5 Syracuse in NCAA quarterfinals
Hayk YengibaryanShould the Tigers beat the Orange, they will advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022 as they look to win their first national championship since 2001.
Should the Tigers beat the Orange, they will advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022 as they look to win their first national championship since 2001.