Cross Country: Leung banishes demons, leads men to victory at regionals

The men’s cross country team could have fallen short at this weekend’s NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional meet and still boast phenomenal improvements over last year. The women’s team could have run poorly at their half of the meet and still have a record-breaking year.

But for yet another meet, Princeton has exceeded expectations and raised the bar. At Saturday’s regional championship at Penn State, the men’s and women’s teams placed first and fourth, respectively.

The men were running on momentum from a resolute win at last month’s Heptagonal Championships. That weekend, junior captain Donn Cabral led the Tigers’ pack. But on Saturday, it was junior Brian Leung, a consistent scorer throughout Princeton’s season, who took the lead. Leung finished the 10-kilometer course in 30 minutes, 11 seconds to earn fourth place individually.

Leung isn’t a stranger to the athletic limelight. In his freshman and sophomore seasons, he qualified for the first team All-Ivy League in cross country. Leung advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2008 as a freshman. Thanks to his performance on Saturday, Leung will be able to return to Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 22.

Cabral followed Leung by a split second to take fifth. Senior Mark Amirault trailed the pair at 30:22, earning him ninth place. Juniors Joe Stilin and Max Kaulbach followed, placing 16th and 19th, respectively. Princeton’s top five runners, who together form the team’s score, awarded their school 53 points and a regional championship.

The Tigers had less room for error this weekend than they did at Heps. At the Ivy League championships, Princeton outraced Dartmouth by a comfortable 22-point margin. Villanova, the Tigers’ closest competition this weekend, didn’t afford opponents the same luxury. With the Wildcats accruing a final score of 61, the meet easily could have gone in the Villanova's direction.

The Tigers are already in a better place than they were a year ago. Princeton’s first-place finish this weekend has guaranteed the men a spot at the NCAA Championships. One year ago, the men finished in sixth at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals. If they keep up their pace from this season, the Tigers will be poised for success at the national championships later this month.

The women’s team continued a streak of strong performances, but the aggressive competition in the mid-Atlantic division left Princeton in fourth place. Its national bid is now on uneasy ground.

Junior Alex Banfich led the Tigers, finishing the six-kilometer course in third place individually with a time of 20:04. Senior captain Sarah Cummings followed Banfich at 20:35, placing 12th. Senior Ashley Higginson finished in 20:45, finishing 15th overall. Freshman Theresa Devine and sophomore Abby Levene also scored for Princeton, placing 35th and 37th, respectively. Levene is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

Banfich, Cummings and Higginson were awarded All-Mid-Atlantic honors for their runs on Saturday. All-Ivy honors haven’t been released yet, but given the women’s recent league title, these runners are expected to be on the roster.

Despite several strong runs from the Tigers, Villanova powered through four of the top six places and finished with a final score of 29 to take the regional championship. Georgetown finished second, while Penn State finished slightly ahead of Princeton to take third.

The Tigers' fourth-place finish leaves them on cusp of qualifying for national championships. The top two finishers at the NCAA mid-Atlantic regional meet are guaranteed a spot in the NCAA championships, but the region’s remaining qualification spots are hotly contested. Given the past weekend, Princeton is still a top contender. However, Penn State and West Virginia, which finished fifth on Saturday, are both in the running.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The men’s team is currently ranked No. 17 nationally, while the women are ranked No. 19 in the most recent polls. NCAA Championships, the last stop for both teams, will take place in Terre Haute later this month.