Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Cross Country Gears Up for '09
September 02, 2009 | Men's Cross Country
PRINCETON, N.J. (9/1/09) - The Princeton men's cross country team will begin its season on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Fordham Fiasco at Van Cortlandt Park.
The squad is coming off of its third straight Ivy League title and finished fourth at the NCAA Regional with two runners racing in the top 10 to qualify for the NCAA Championship.
In the past two years, Princeton has graduated some outstanding runners, with the likes of David Nightingale and Michael Maag, runners who have reworked the records book to include their names multiple times over. The loss of star-quality isn't something that worries head coach Steve Dolan.
"We're real excited about the team this fall and know there's going to be some new faces in our lead pack," Dolan said. "We're wondering who are going to be the next stars of cross country here at Princeton."
Some of the top returners to the squad are senior Ben Sitler, sophomore Brian Leung and junior Rob Speare.
Sitler has been one of Princeton best runners at Heps the past few years and finished fourth overall in 2008. In 2007, he qualified for the NCAA Championship. Sitler has been fighting off knee injuries but has proven that when he is healthy he can compete with the best in the league.
Leung had an amazing freshman campaign and immediately hit the ground running. He placed sixth at Heps and qualified for the NCAAs with a ninth-place finish at Regionals.
Speare was elected as team captain after being a critical piece of the 2008 squad. He is a lead-by-example type of runner and has been noted as one of the hardest workers on the team and a fearless and tough competitor. His role last year was the fourth or fifth runner but was key in the team's win at Heps and one of his best times of the season at Regionals.
A couple of other runners showed their stride not on the cross country course but on the track last year.
Sophomore Donn Cabral was not able to run cross country his freshman year because of an injury sustained in the summer, but he showed his ability on the track. He qualified for the NCAA Regional in the 5000 meters with a personal best time of 14:08.48.
Another athlete that should make a dent in the front pack after a successful track season is sophomore Trevor VanAckeren. Last year was the first year he focused solely on running for an entire year and he really took off on the track. He was an NCAA Regional qualifier in both the 1500 meters and steeplechase, with impressive times of 3:46.21 and 9:02.84, respectively.
"There are a number of other returners that made great strides on the track last year and could make a big impact this fall," Dolan said. "We are also very excited about the incoming freshman class. A few of the newcomers could prove to be very competitive by the end of the season as they adapt to racing 8k."
The Tigers will take things somewhat easy in September to give the new runners time to adjust, but those two meets are extremely important for the team.
The Fordham Fiasco will be held at Van Cortlandt Park, site of the Ivy League Heptagaonal, while the Cappy Anderson Invite the following weekend, on Sept. 19, will be at the Maryland-Eastern Shore, site of the NCAA Regional.
"These two courses in September are developmental races for our team as we build momentum and chances to see courses that we will run on later in the season," Dolan said.
In October, the schedule includes stops at the Notre Dame Invitational, the Paul Short Invitational and Pre-Nationals, before Heps on Oct. 30.
"Our goal is to be in a position where we get off the bus at Heps thinking that we've got a shot to win it again," Dolan said. "The guys also aspire to challenge for the Mid-Atlantic Regional title and hope to earn the opportunity to compete at the NCAA Championship. Even though we're younger and there are new guys, the expectations are still there."