Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Cross Country Runs By Harvard, Yale For Fifth Straight Year
September 15, 2007 | Women's Cross Country
The Princeton women's cross country team won the annual H/Y/P cross country meet for the fifth straight year Saturday morning at the Princeton cross country course, taking five of the top six places, including a race victory by sophomore Liz Costello.
The Tigers, led by Costello's time of 18:00.70 over the 5.1-kilometer loop on a windy, wet day, finished with an impressive score of 18 in the tri-meet. Harvard was second with a score of 57, while Yale's score was 64.
Costello and classmate Christy Johnson were well ahead of the third-place finisher, with Johnson crossing the line in just more than 18:02. Megan Brandeland had a second straight impressive performance for Princeton with a fourth-place 18:12.80, while freshman Ashley Higginson was fifth in 18:17 and junior Jolee VanLeuven rounded out the Princeton scorers with a sixth-place finish in 18:19.40.
Princeton had two other runners finish in the top 10 in the 40-runner meet, both freshman. Sarah Cummings was seventh in 18:30.40 and Liz Deir was 10th in 18:42.30.
The Tigers' five straight wins in the annual meet ties them for the second-longest streak in the 31-year history of the meet. Harvard won five straight from 1986-90. Yale has the meet record with six straight wins from 1980-85.
Princeton now has 12 victories in 31 H/Y/P women's cross country meets.
Eight Tiger runners finished the course in under 19 minutes, including senior Caitlin McTague in 11th place in 18:44. Yale's Lindsay Donaldson, the third-place finisher, and Harvard's Lindsey Scherf and Jamie Olson, in eighth and ninth positions, were the only non-Princeton runners in the top 10.
The Princeton women will next race Sept. 28 at Lehigh's Paul Short Run. The Tigers won that 35-team race a year ago on the way to a top 10 national ranking and a fourth straight NCAA championship appearance.