Princeton University Athletics
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Nationally-Ranked Cross Country Teams Head To Regionals Looking For NCAA Berths
November 08, 2007 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Princeton's nationally-ranked cross country teams head to Lehigh's Goodman Campus Saturday for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional with NCAA championship berths on their collective minds and the talent and 2007 results to make those hopes a reality.
The men's 10-kilometer race kicks off the day at 11 a.m., while the women's six-kilometer race follows at 12:15, and the Tiger teams are among the favorites to win their respective events and earn the automatic NCAA team bid for the top two finishers in each regional event.
The Princeton women are ranked No. 4 in the country this week, behind only Stanford, Oregon and Florida State, and the Tigers even received one of 13 first-place votes in this week's USTFCCCA poll. Princeton is looking for its third straight Mid-Atlantic regional title and its fifth straight team appearance at the NCAA championship meet, which takes place Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind.
Head coach Peter Farrell's team has won every meet in which it has competed this season, including the prestigious Paul Short Run held on the Goodman Campus course in late September. The latest race victory for Princeton came two weeks ago, when the Tigers recorded one of the lowest scores in meet history on the way to a second straight Ivy League Heptagonal championship.
Sophomore Liz Costello won the individual title at Heps, becoming just the fourth Princeton woman to do so, and classmate Christy Johnson was right behind in second place. Juniors Megan Brandeland and Jolee VanLeuven and freshman Ashley Higginson gave Princeton five of the top nine runners at the Heptagonal meet, and freshman Sarah Cummings is also a threat to be a top finisher in every race.
Princeton also won the "White" race at the Pre-Nationals meet in October, and the Tigers' average time trailed only that of Stanford and Florida State, who competed in the "Blue" race at Pre-Nationals.
The Tiger men are also in the national rankings this week at No. 29, and are getting healthy at the right time as regionals approach. Princeton has an extremely balanced group that has seen three different athletes finish as top runner in an event this season, and senior All-America David Nightingale appears headed toward top form after an injury forced him to miss much of the early season.
Junior Michael Maag was the individual winner at Heps for Princeton, which finished with a low score of 38 to easily outdistance second-place Cornell's 67. Four Tigers finished in the race's top 11 as, like the women, the Tiger men won a second straight conference championship in cross country.
Sophomore Ben Sitler was the Tigers' top finisher in their last visit to the Goodman Campus, finishing third overall in the 8K Paul Short Run, and Maag was also a top-five finisher in that event. Senior Frank Tinney led the way for Princeton at the Pre-Nationals "White" race, finishing in 26th place overall in a strong field.
Meanwhile, Nightingale returned to action at Pre-Nationals and then stepped up at Heps to finish with a first-team All-Ivy performance in sixth place.
Nightingale ran in the NCAA championships as an individual in 2006 and in 2005, improving by nearly 50 places last season. He hopes to have his entire team with him in Indiana this season.
The Tiger men are ranked second in the Mid-Atlantic region behind Georgetown, with Villanova and La Salle also strong candidates to perform well at the regional meet. The Princeton women are the region's top-ranked team, though Big East powerhouse teams West Virginia, Georgetown and Villanova as well as Penn State will all be strong opponents for the Tigers on Saturday.