Track & Field: Men head to Navy, women to N.Y.

After nearly a month off from competition, the men’s and women’s track and field teams will be back in action this weekend. The men will head to Annapolis, Md., to take on Navy in a dual meet on Saturday, while the women will participate in the Metropolitan Coaches Collegiate Invitational in New York on Friday.

The men’s meet against the Midshipmen will be the team’s only dual meet of the winter season. Junior sprinter Mike Eddy, who won the 600m in his first race this season and competed against Navy in Annapolis twice last year, is expecting a tough challenge.

“The Midshipmen are some of the most tenacious and competitive guys we run against,” Eddy said in an e-mail. “Their drive, discipline and camaraderie is admirable, and it’s always a pleasure to compete with them.”

Sophomore long jumper Isaac Serwanga echoed Eddy’s statement, saying, “This meet should be great. Navy has a beautiful facility, which in itself provides motivation to perform well. We expect good competition from [them] this Saturday.”

While there are always concerns about how the squad will perform after returning from an extended period of individual training, senior thrower Eric Plummer, who reached NCAA provisional standards in the shot put in his first meet this year, said he expects the squad to impress the coaching staff with a series of confident performances.

“This meet is kind of a test to see how hard we worked over break,” he said in an e-mail. “Looking at the team we have, though, I am confident that everyone did what they were supposed to do and we will have a great meet.”

Though competitors often consider dual meets less important than larger invitational and championship meets, the team will still field a strong group of athletes in all events to counter a competitive Midshipmen squad.

“It’s important to keep the same mindset when competing, no matter who or how many you’re competing against,” Serwanga said. “In fact, I think that a dual meet will make each event a little more personal, a little more competitive. Knowing that we can either win or lose the meet — no in-between — gives me the incentive to do my part in making sure Princeton comes out on top.”

Eddy seconded Serwanga’s thoughts on the meet.

“The Navy meet is a very important benchmark for the season,” he said. “It’s important that every guy knows where he stands and what he needs to work on for the rest of the season.”

While the men will only compete against the Midshipmen, the women’s team will be competing against 24 other teams at the Metropolitan Coaches Collegiate Invitational, including a number of Division I programs in addition to some community colleges and club teams. The team performed well at this meet last year, grabbing first-place finishes in the pole vault and shot put.

“This is a pretty big meet with diverse schools and diverse competition,” sophomore sprinter Eileen Moran said. “We’ll definitely see some of these runners again, but I’m sure it’ll be a good meet.”

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Going into 2010, the team is looking to build on its strong performance in the opening meet of the season, the New Years Invitational, and achieve consistency in its performances.

“At this meet, I am just looking for a strong performance, but not a big result,” said junior thrower Emma Ruggiero, who broke a school record in the weight throw in her first appearance this season. “I’m trying to have more consistent performances throughout the season this year.”

A main goal of the team in large early-season meets like this is to begin to build mental composure that often plays a key role in late-season and championship meets.

“In meets like these, I work on trying not to get too nervous before I’m running, because it makes it a lot harder,” Moran said. “I try to focus, do what I can do, run my best and not worry about what everyone else does.”

Freshman pole vaulter Tory Worthen echoed Moran’s comments.

“I’m there just to focus on myself and my teammates and not to get too wrapped up in the other people there,” she said. “I will try to relax and ignore the competition and jump to the best of my ability.”