Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Paul Short Run
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Women's Cross Country Dominates In Winning Paul Short Run For Second Straight Year
September 28, 2007 | Women's Cross Country
Princeton women's cross country coach Peter Farrell was worried about challenges from national powers Texas Tech and Wisconsin as his Tigers looked for a second straight win at Lehigh's Paul Short Run. Turns out those teams, and everyone else, should have been the worried ones.
All seven of Farrell's runners finished in the top 25 in a race that featured 317 competitors and 47 teams as the Tigers won a second straight Paul Short title in dominating fashion, posting an impressive score of 45 that was more than 70 places ahead of second-place West Virginia.
Standout sophomores Christy Johnson (20:24 over the 6K) and Liz Costello (20:36) and junior Jolee VanLeuven (20:52) all finished in the top 10, while a pair of freshmen, Ashley Higginson and Sarah Cummings, crossed the line together in 20:58 to give the Tigers all five scorers in the top 13 of the race.
Princeton, ranked No. 16 nationally and No. 1 regionally entering the race, had a combined time for its seven finishers that was nearly two minutes less than the combined time of the second-place Mountaineers. All seven Tiger runners, including junior Megan Brandeland in 17th and senior Caitlin McTague in 24th, finished within 55 seconds of each other.
Johnson's time was good for fourth place overall, while Costello finished sixth and VanLeuven 10th.
West Virginia had three runners place in the top 15 on the way to a second-place score of 118, while Texas Tech took the first two places individually, including the winning time of 19:59, but finished in third place with a score of 154. Wisconsin was fourth with 157, while Stony Brook placed fifth at 185.
The Tigers have now won both invitationals in which they have competed this season. Princeton won the season-opening Fordham Invitational Sept. 8 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Princeton won the 2006 Paul Short Run by edging Wisconsin 61-62, but there was no nailbiting this year as to who was the winner when the final results were tallied.
Princeton's top seven gets another test in two weeks, when they'll head to the Pre-Nationals Invitational held at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind., site of the 2007 NCAA championship meet. The remainder of the Tigers will compete at the Princeton Invitational Oct. 13.