Princeton University Athletics
1999 Women's Outdoor Track and Field Review
October 12, 1999 | Women's Track and Field
Following one of their three Super Bowl wins in the 1990's, then-Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson uttered his famous line. “How 'bout them Cowboys!” This spring the talk was about the Princeton track and field teams, making fans boast “How 'bout them Tigers!”
The 1999 women's outdoor track and field season was the kind of year that makes you proud. There were no glamorous championships, no All-Americas, but there were still solid performances by a team that worked together and made people want to stop a take a gander.
As we all know, the weather in central New Jersey is hardly nice in mid-March. The thought of holding an outdoor track competition around Princeton during that time of year is unthinkable. That led the Tigers to sunny Miami. Some of the Tigers didn't waste any time in getting to the winner's circle. Shawneequa Callier and Rebecca Desman both tied for the high jump championship at the Florida International University/Florida Lottery Invitational, leaping 5-8 for the win. The trip to Florida also included the Miami Invitational. While the Tiger baseball team was playing the Hurricanes, the distance runners were making noise on the track. Sarah Hendricks and Heather Onuma finished three and four in the 3,000 meters while Courtney Ebersole and Jen Cannistra took places two and three in the 5,000 meters.
Even though the weather wasn't quite as nice, there is still no place like home. Princeton hosted the second annual Sam Howell Memorial at Weaver Stadium April 3. Ebersole broke through for the win in the 5,000 while co-captain Aiyanna Burton was busy winning the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump.
An exciting three-way meet against Penn and Yale in Philadelphia was next. The Tigers notched six first place finishes, including Bynia Reed in the 400 meters, Allison Brown in both the 100 and 200 meters and the 4x400-meter relay. The wins were not enough to top the Quakers but were good enough to beat the Bulldogs.
Southeastern Pennsylvania was almost a second home to the Tigers as they ventured to Widener the very next week. The distance runners set the pace yet again. Cannistra, Kristi Rosso and Melissa Wu swept the 1-2-3 places in the 5,000 meters. Brown continued her winning ways with a win in the 400 meters.
For the third consecutive weekend, Philly was calling the Tigers, as well as 18,000 other athletes and about 90,000 spectators for the Penn Relays. With that many people watching, it makes a win all that much more special. The distance medley relay team of Betsy Packard, Reed, Vanessa Hanley and Onuma took first in the college race with a time of 11:36.55.
After tying Brown for the Heptagonal title in 1998, the Tigers looked to get over the hump and take the title all for themselves. The hump was a little too big as the Bears won the title outright. Princeton was third with 92.5 points behind Harvard. The 4x800-meter relay team of Lauren Simmons, Cecily Gallup, Hanley and co-captain Onuma brought home first-team All-Ivy honors with a first-place performance.
After several strong performances at the Princeton Invitational, the fine-tuning was all done for the ECAC championships at George Mason University. Callier led the way with a second place high jump performance of 5-93/4. Ebersole timed in with a sixth place 36:40.95 in the 10,000 meters. The team finished in 21st place out of 69 competing teams.
Graduation may have taken a lot of the leadership and talent from Princeton, but with a strong group of young, talented athletes, next season might be the year for the Tigers.
Highlights
Princeton's 4x800-meter relay team won the Heptagonal championship to sweep the indoor and outdoor titles.
Results
1-1 overall, 1-1 Ivy League
Princeton's distance medley relay team won the Penn Relays college championship.
| 3/14 | FIU/Florida Lottery Invitational # | ind. | |
| 3/20 | Miami Invitational # | ind. | |
| 4/3 | SAM HOWELL MEMORIAL | ind. | |
| Apr 10 | at Pennsylvania | L/61-80 | |
| Yale @ | W | 61-51 | |
| 4/17 | Widener Invitational $ | ind. | |
| 4/22-24 | at Penn Relays @ | ind. | |
| 5/ 1-2 | at Heptagonals % | third | |
| 5/ 8 | PRINCETON INVITATIONAL | ind. | |
| 5/ 21-23 | at ECAC championships & | 21st |
# - at Miami, Fla.
@ - at Philadelphia, Pa.
$ - at Chester, Pa.
% - at New York, N.Y.
& - at Fairfax, Va.