Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
ECAC Championships
Players Mentioned
Distance Standouts Lead Women's Track to 6th Place Finish at ECAC Meet
May 13, 2007 | Women's Track and Field
A week after leading Princeton to a second-place finish at Ivy League Heptagonals, the Tiger distance runners led their team to a sixth-place finish at the 2007 ECAC Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships with four NCAA championship qualifying performances.
Princeton finished with a team total of 39.5 points, 27 of which came from five distance runners in four different events. And in the 800, Liz Costello's 2:09.68 was an NCAA qualifying mark even though it wasn't quite good enough to qualify for the final at this weekend's meet.
The Tigers had a winner in the 10,000 meters in sophomore Jolee VanLeuven, who finished the 6 1/4 miles in a time of 34:58.82 for her second straight win in the event after winning the Heptagonal championship in a time of 35:19.07 on the same Weaver Stadium track last weekend.
In the 1,500 meters, senior Catha Mullen ran a fast 4:22.43 in the preliminaries for an NCAA qualifying mark, then earned four points for Princeton in the final by finishing fifth in 4:27.18.
Two Tiger runners earned NCAA qualifying times in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and finished within a second of each other in the top six in the event. Reilly Kiernan, a freshman, was fifth in 10:44.07, while Jen Johnson, a senior, was right behind in 10:44.83.
In the 5,000 meters, junior Caitlin McTague ran a strong time of 17:03.38 to finish in third place and earn six team points for Princeton.
The field events saw two Tiger standouts, pole vaulter Jess Kloss and hammer thrower Emma Harper, have outstanding performances this weekend. Kloss's leap of 11 feet, 11 3/4 inches was good for a tie for fourth place in the event, while Harper's toss of 170 feet, three inches earned Princeton points with a seventh-place finish.
Sprinter Agatha Offorjebe, the 400-meter Heps champion, had another strong day in the quarter-mile at the ECAC meet, finish third in the final in a time of 55.31 seconds after qualifying fourth in 55.50 in the preliminaries.
Athletes from 49 different ECAC schools competed at the meet Friday through Sunday at Weaver Track. Georgetown University won the team title with 79 points, 16 better than second-place Pitt.