Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Princeton Announces 2011 Cross Country Schedules
July 18, 2011 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Men's Schedule
Women's Schedule
PRINCETON, N.J. (7/18/11) - Princeton has announced the 2011 cross country schedules for both the men's and women's teams. Barring the women's annual HYP Meet, the teams' schedules are identical.
The season kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Fordham Fiasco in Van Cortlandt Park. This will be the first of two meets the Tigers will compete in on the familiar course in the Bronx. Select members of the team will return later in the season for the IC4A/ECAC Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9. The women's team has competed at the Fordham Fiasco twice in the last five years, finishing second in 2009 and first in 2007.
The women's team will compete in the annual HYP meet with Harvard hosting this year's event at Franklyn Park on Saturday, Sept. 17. The Tigers are undefeated since 2003, including a win last year with a team score of 22 and an average time of 17:47.90. Harvard was second with 40 points averaging 18:12.17, and Yale was third with 68 points averaging a time of 18:45.69.
On Friday, Sept. 30, the teams will split off sending the A group to the Notre Dame Invitational and the B group to the Paul Short Run at Lehigh. With Notre Dame alumnus Peter Farrell at the helm of the women's program, the Tigers will be competing in its fourth straight invitational in South Bend. The team finished seventh last year after consecutive second-place finishes in 2009 and 2008. The men's team returns to the invite after a one-year hiatus. The Tigers were 10th in 2009 and 11th in 2008.
After the men had a successful meet last year at the Wisconsin Invitational, both teams will compete there this season on Friday, Oct. 14. The men's team finished third last year finishing ahead of three squads ranked higher in the national poll, with Cabral capturing the individual title.
Princeton will hold a home meet, the Princeton Invitational, on Saturday, Oct. 15. It will be held on the Tigers' home course since 2006, West Windsor Fields, located on campus between Route 1 and Faculty Roads.
Heptagonals still remains a question mark. The meet will either be Friday, Oct. 28 or Saturday, Oct. 29 with a site to be determined. Van Cortlandt Park has hosted the event the last 72 years but construction on the course has prompted a possible change to a campus site, pending the approval of the Ivy League Athletic Directors.
Last year the men's team posted a winning team score of 33 with junior Donn Cabral winning the individual title, with the second fastest time in Heps history, 11 seconds ahead of the second-place runner. Princeton hopes to win its fifth title in six years this October.
The women's team has won the Heps title in each of the last five seasons. Junior Alex Banfich won the individual title in 2010 with the second best time in Heps history and one of just two that have run the race in under 17 minutes. She also extends Princeton's streak of having the top runner to four straight years.
The NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals returns to Princess Anne, Maryland and are slated for Saturday, Nov. 12. Maryland Eastern Shore hosted the event in 2009, which will be remembered as a muddy and rainsoaked race after rains basted the area the week of the meet. The top two teams earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The women's team was second at the meet in 2009 to earn one of those automatic spots and the men's team won the Regional last year to automatically qualify.
The NCAA Championships will be Monday, Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. The men's team is coming off its best NCAA Championship finish finishing 12th. Cabral and junior Brian Leung captured All-America honors as the first duo to earn the elite honors in the same season. The women's team placed 15th last year with Banfich earning All-America honors based on her 20th place finish.