Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Cross Country Sets Sights on National Title
November 19, 2009 | Women's Cross Country
PRINCETON, N.J. (11/19/09) - The Princeton women's cross country team will run for the national title on Monday, Nov. 23 at the NCAA Cross Country Championship.
The 6k race will be held on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course on the campus of Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind. The race will begin at 12:58 p.m. The race will be aired live on VERSUS, with a live webstream available on NCAA.com.
Princeton is currentlu ranked third in the country, behind Washington and Villanova.
The Tigers finished fifth last season, the best finish in program history. The team's goal, which it has stated all season long, is to finish in the top four to make the podium at the awards ceremony.
Princeton has made the nationals as a team eight times, with 2009 being the fifth straight season the team has earn an automatic bid.
Princeton has a core five that will help the team challenge for one of those coveted top four spots, and all have competed in the national race before.
Senior co-captain Liz Costello has been the Tigers' top runner for the last few years and was the team's top scorer last season, finishing 11th with a time of 20:24.
Sophomore Alex Banfich and junior Sarah Cummings have been the Tigers second and third-place finishers this year. Banfich finished 49th last year at 20:55, as the third Tiger to cross the line, while Cummings was 82nd at 21:16 just missing the top five. She rebounded later in the season to be named All-America in the outdoor 10,000-meter run.
Junior Ashley Higginson and senior co-captain Reilly Kiernan have been scorers for the squad all season. Higginson didn't race in last season's championship, but did in 2007 and was the second scorer for the team as a freshman. Kiernan was the fifth Tiger across the line last year, taking 61st with a time of 21:01.
Junior Liz Deir and senior Alexa Glencer provided terrific depth as the sixth and seventh runners. Glencer ran in last year's nationals and finished in the top 100 with a time of 21:22.
The Tigers will also send a handful of harriers to the ECAC Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Nov. 21. The 5,000-meter race will be held in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., and will begin at 11 a.m.