Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Pre-Nationals Invitational
Players Mentioned
Women's Cross Country Earns Impressive Victory At Pre-Nationals
October 13, 2007 | Women's Cross Country
If there was any doubt as to whether the Princeton women's cross country team can compete for the title at the NCAA championship meet next month, it was erased with another impressive winning performance Saturday on the same NCAA championship course in Indiana.
Eighth-ranked Princeton won the "White" race at the 2007 Pre-Nationals Meet at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course, defeating second-ranked Colorado, sixth-ranked Arizona State and four other teams ranked in the top 15 along the way.
The dynamic sophomore duo of Liz Costello and Christy Johnson again led the way for the Tigers, each finishing in the top 10 out of 235 runners, but the Princeton balance showed again as all seven Tiger athletes finished 54th or better. Freshmen Ashley Higginson and Sarah Cummings each had strong races, while junior Megan Brandeland's 48th-place finish allowed the Tigers to outdistance Arizona State by 22 places.
The Tigers' winning score was 149, with Arizona State second (171) and 13th-ranked Michigan third (173). No. 12 Washington (187) and No. 10 Illinois (189) rounded out the top five, while Colorado placed sixth with a score of 231.
Both Costello and Johnson were with the lead pack at the 3K split in a 6K race that saw only two runners finish below the 20-minute mark. Costello's seventh-place time was 20:25.1, while Johnson was just a few feet behind in 10th place in a time of 20:27.0
Cummings and Higginson were outstanding in their first visit to the Pre-Nationals meet, hitting the 3K split just 13 seconds behind the leaders and barely missing out on breaking the 21-minute mark. Cummings was 38th overall in a time of 21:01.9, while Higginson placed 46th in 21:11.
Brandeland had a strong finishing kick to end the day even with her teammate Higginson, while Jolee VanLeuven was right behind in 21:14. Caitlin McTague's 54th-place finish was in a strong time of 21:19.
The Tigers' average time of 20:52 was the third-best at the meet overall, behind only two teams that ran in the day's other race, the "Blue" race. Top-ranked Stanford won that race and had an average mark of 20:36, while No. 11 Florida State was second in that race with an average time of 20:45.
Princeton's average time was better than several other top 10 teams that ran in the "Blue" race such as Rice, Minnesota and Michigan State.
The Tigers are the strong favorites to defend their title at the Ivy League Heptagonal meet in two weeks at New York City's Van Cortlandt Park before heading to the NCAA regional meet Nov. 10 looking for a third straight regional title. Princeton should return as a team to the Lavern Gibson course for the NCAA championship meet Nov. 19.