Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional
Players Mentioned
Women's Cross Country Takes NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional; Tiger Men Finish Close Third
November 10, 2007 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
The No. 4-ranked Princeton women's cross country team did as expected, winning for the third straight year, while the men had three runners in the top 10 on the way to a close third-place finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional held Saturday at Lehigh's Goodman Campus.
The women continued a season of highlights by winning for the sixth time in as many events this season, earning an automatic qualification into next Monday's NCAA championship meet in the process. The Tiger men finished a scant four points behind second-place Villanova Saturday and will hope for an at-large team bid into the NCAA championship when those selections are announced this week. Still, top finisher David Nightingale qualified individually for the NCAA meet with a strong race, while teammates Michael Maag and Ben Sitler have great chances to be selected as well.
Heptagonal champion and Sophomore Liz Costello was the individual second-place finisher on the women's side, finishing the six kilometers in 19:58 as one of just two runners to race in under 20:00 on a chilly day. Classmate Christy Johnson was, as usual, right behind, placing fifth in 20:18 to make Princeton the only team with two top-five finishers in the event.
Princeton's winning score of 56, 21 places ahead of West Virginia, was solidified by its final three scorers. Freshman Sarah Cummings had a big regional debut with a strong 14th-place finish in 20:42, while juniors Megan Brandeland and Jolee VanLeuven ran together in 20:49 to finish 17th and 18th respectively.
All seven Princeton runners in the event finished in the top 25 overall in a race that featured 198 total competitors.
The 29th-ranked men began the day with their 10K event, and it turned out to be an extremely close call for second place between the Tigers and Wildcats, each of whom finished more than 100 places ahead of the fourth-place team. Princeton was the only team in the race to have three runners finish in the top 10. but the Wildcats score of 70 was just slightly ahead of Princeton's 74.
Senior captain Nightingale proved he was almost all the way back from injury by finishing fourth overall in 30:24 to lead Princeton, a time that was just hundreths behind the third-place finisher.
Heps individual champion Maag and standout sophomore Sitler were right behind Nightingale in 9th and 10th places respectively. Maag finished in 30:30 for the 10 kilometers, while Sitler's outstanding time was 30:33.
All seven of Princeton's entrants finished in the top 35 of a race with 201 total competitors, joining only team champion Georgetown in that accomplishment. The Tigers' final two scorers on Saturday were seniors James O'Toole and Frank Tinney, who finished 24th (31:00) and 27th (31:06) respectively, while sophomore Ted Price and senior Justin Pines finished together in 31:17 for 33rd and 35th place finishes.
Georgetown junior Melissa Grelli won the individual women's race in 19:50, while Villanova senior Robert Curtis took the individual men's race in a time of 30:08.
Six of Princeton's seven runners on the women's side finished in under 21 minutes, including Caitlin McTague's 21st-place time of 20:57. Freshman Ashley Higginson barely missed that mark with a 21:02 finish for 24th place.