Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Michael Maag Places 10th at USA Junior Cross Country Championships
February 20, 2006 | Men's Cross Country
Feb. 20, 2006
NEW YORK - Michael Maag, a freshman at Princeton and a member of the men's cross country and track & field teams, finished an impressive 10th overall in the Junior Men's event at Sunday's USATF Cross Country Championships held at the famed Van Cortlandt Park course in The Bronx.
The event serves as the selection event for the U.S. team that will compete at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. The top six finishers in the Open and Junior races are eligible to compete for the U.S. team on April 1-2 in Fukuoka, Japan. The USA Championships and World Cross Country Team Trials follow the same format as the upcoming World Championships, with six races over a two-day span.
Maag ran the eight kilometers at Van Cortlandt in 24:27, only 37 seconds behind the winning time and less than 20 seconds out of the qualifying top six. Temperatures in New York were only in the low 20's at race time.
Kiel Uhl of Ames, Iowa, won the event in 23:50.
A native of Lake Oswego, Ore., outside Portland, Maag was the top freshman finisher at the Ivy League Heptagonals at Van Cortlandt back in October, finishing 18th. He also earned all-region honors by finishing 23rd overall for the Tigers in that meet. During the indoor season, Maag has run 4:09 for the mile and 8:17 for 3,000 meters.