Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Track In Front After First Day At Ivy League Heptagonals
May 10, 2008 | Women's Track and Field
Thanks to three individual champions and a pair of second-place finishers, the Princeton women's track team is in the lead after the first day of the 2008 Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Yale's Cuyler Field and Dwyer Track.
Princeton took the three of the top four spots in the final event of Saturday's action, the 10,000 meters, to take a 23-point lead over second-place Cornell heading into Sunday. Jolee VanLeuven and Sarah Cummings took charge for Princeton midway through the 10,000, eventually finishing 1-2 more than 30 seconds faster than third place, and Caitln McTague's fourth-place run gave the Tigers 22 of the 31 total points in the event.
The Tigers also took the top two spots in the shot put thanks to a pair of freshman stars. Isabell von Loga repeated her indoor Heps title with an impressive NCAA regional qualifying throw of 49' 8 1/4", while Thanithia Billings also had a regional toss of 47' 10 1/2" to finish second.
In the pole vault, Jess Kloss had a winning mark of 12' 7 1/2", also reaching the regional qualifying standard and making her the only competitor on Saturday to clear the 12-foot mark in the event.
Princeton also earned big points in the hammer throw thanks to Emma Harper and Emma Ruggiero, who each tossed ECAC qualifying standards to finish third and fourth respectively. Harper's best throw was 169 feet, seven inches, while Ruggiero's best mark was 167 feet, five inches.
Six Tigers qualified for Sunday finals during Saturday preliminaries on the track. In the 400 meters, the Tigers will have two finalists as Agatha Offorjebe's 56.74 and Leanne Bellar's 57.28 were the third- and fourth-best prelim times respectively. Princeton will also have two finalists in the 100-meter hurdles as freshmen Lauren Barber and Bianca Mathabane both qualified. Barber's Saturday time was 14.53.
Also qualifying in the hurdles was another freshman, Katie Sirico, who had the sixth-best time in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.20). Sophomore Liz Costello will have another opportunity for a Heps title Sunday in the 1,500 meters. She had the third-best time in Saturday's preliminary race with a mark of 4:28.38, just shy of an NCAA regional standard.
After six scored events, Princeton's 60 points leads Cornell's 37 and third-place Harvard's 32. Dartmouth has 29 points, while Brown, Penn and Columbia trail well behind. Princeton is looking for just its second "Triple Crown" in program history after winning this season's cross country and indoor Heps titles.