Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Cross Country Looks to Build on Last Season's Success
September 04, 2009 | Women's Cross Country
PRINCETON, N.J. (9/4/09) - The Princeton University women's cross country team is coming off the best year ever for a Princeton cross country team, but they aren't satisfied.
The Tigers won their third consecutive Ivy League title and tied for first at Regionals. The team then went on to place fifth at the NCAA Championship, its best finish to date.
"The team wants to defend its title at Heps and wants to go back to nationals and actually do better than last year," head coach Peter Farrell said. "The top four make the podium and stand in front of all the athletes, and I know in the back of their mind that's what they want."
"We don't live in a world were we have transfers, redshirting or the top recruit in the country, so for us to move from fifth and make the podium will be a real challenge."
The latest issue of Track & Field News lists the rankings for the top-10 women's cross country teams in the country and Princeton finds itself ranked eighth.
"Eighth is prestigious," Farrell said. "We are in the toughest district in the country. In the top-10 there are three teams from our district, and there are a total of nine districts and 330 colleges."
"We were exceptionally deep last year and took nine of the first 11 at Heps," Farrell said. "We graduated two really strong runners and team leaders in Jolee VanLeuven and Megan Brandeland, but we still have seven extremely good runners and need five to score. We do have to be careful because injures can bite you. If two kids get hurt, you're down to five."
Headlining the group is senior co-captain Liz Costello. A two-time All-America honoree, Costello has been Princeton's top runner the past two seasons. Costello won her second Ivy League individual title and finished 15th at nationals, redeeming herself from her place of 225th from the previous year.
Sharing the captain duties with Costello, is senior Reilly Kiernan. Kiernan finished third at Heps last season and was an important scorer at the national meet. In addition is Alexa Glencer, who captured fifth at Heps and put in a great summer of training.
A trio of juniors will also be stepping up. They are Ashley Higginson, Sarah Cummings and Liz Dier. They have bounced around between second and seventh on the team and form a solid core with the aforementioned runners. Another contributor from the junior class is Brook Russell.
Rounding out the returners is sophomore Alex Banfich. Banfich had an incredible freshman campaign. After finishing 10th at Heps she went on to place 61st at the NCAAs. Her finish makes her the fourth-best returning freshman in the country.
Farrell has brought in a freshman class, of five, that will be understudies to the veterans. "They are runners that need some seasoning, and with the team being this strong they will have time to adapt to college."
The 2009 season opens on Saturday, September 12 at the Fordham Fiasco held at Van Cortlandt Park.