Princeton University Athletics
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Six Battle for National Titles at NCAA Track & Field Championships
June 05, 2012 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
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Six members of the Princeton track & field teams will compete at the 2012 NCAA Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa from June 6-9. The meet will take place at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University.
Junior Greta Feldman is competing in her first NCAA Championship 1,500. She will compete in the semifinals on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The top five from each heat plus the two fastest times will make up the final 12 that will run the final on Saturday at 11:28 a.m. Natalja Piliusina (Oklahoma State) has the best time in the nation at 4:09.51, followed by Katie Flood (Washington) at 4:11.66. The pair will compete in heat 2. Feldman will run in heat 1 against third-ranked Emily Infeld (Georgetown) who sports at 4:12.44. None of them competed in the event last year. Returning top-10 finishers from 2011 include Lucy Van Dalen (Stony Brook), last year's runner-up along with Becca Friday (Oregon) and Cory McGee (Florida). Feldman ran a PR and Princeton record of 4:15.00 to win the NCAA East Regional two weeks ago, which was also faster than the winner from the West Regional.
Sophomore Damon McLean is making his debut at the NCAAs in the triple jump. The final is slated for Friday at 4:30 p.m. Chris Benard (Arizona State) enters the meet with the best mark at 16.74, followed by Omar Craddock (Florida) at 16.71. Neither competed in the championship last year. Troy Doris (Iowa) who finished fifth last year, ranks third with a mark of 16.66. Another top-five finisher from last year Hasheem Halim (Virginia Tech) also returns. A three-time Ivy League champion in the event, McLean has a PR of 15.88. He twice has jumped to 15.75 this season including at the East Regional, in which he placed fifth to advance to championship weekend.
The two-time runner-up in the steeplechase senior Donn Cabral competes for the final time for the national title. The semifinal is scheduled for Thursday at 7:25 p.m., the top six from both heats and the next two fastest times advance to the championship on Saturday at 11:52 a.m. Despite running the Olympic A qualifying standard at the Oxy Meet a week ago, Cabral's time of 8:19.41 wasn't run during the regular season to be listed in the regular season national leaderboard. Craig Forys (Michigan) holds that position at 8:28.90. He finished ninth in the final last year. Cory Leslie (Ohio State) is second at 8:32.48 and Andrew Poore (Indiana) who finished third behind Cabral in the national final last year, is third at 8:35.77. Cabral's last time running the steeplechase was an American College Record. He is a three-time Ivy League champion in the event.
Senior Brian Leung will compete in the final of the 10,000 on Wednesday at 8:45 p.m. This is Leung's first NCAA Championship in track, but has championship experience in cross country where he is an All-America. Leung has a PR of 29:09.34 in the 10k and ran a season best 29:34.72 at the Sam Howell. Leung was eighth at Regionals with a time of 30:17.64 to qualify for the national final. Cameron Levins (Southern Utah) sports the best time in the nation at 27:27.96. He did not compete in the final last year. Chris Derrick (Stanford) was fourth last year and owns the second-best time at 27:31.38. Mohammed Ahmed (Wisconsin) has the third best time, followed by Stephen Sambu (Arizona) who was third last year. Luke Puskedra (Oregon) is the final top-10 returner from last year's race, where he was fifth.
Senior Joe Stilin will tackle the 5,000 on Friday at 7:10 p.m. Stilin reached the semifinals of the 1500 last year and has also competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. He reaches the national final after running the second-fastest time at the Regional at 14:01.37. He owns ran a PR of 13:38.36 at the Mt. Sac Relays, which ranks him 12th in the nation. Stilin is also the reigning Ivy League champion in the event. In addition, Stilin ran the two fastest times in the Ivy League in the 1500 and 5k this year and a sub-4-minute-mile during the indoor season. Last year's runner-up Lawai Lalang (Arizona) has the second-best time in the nation at 13:18.88. Ahead of him is Cameron Levins (Southern Utah) at 13:18.47. Levins finished seventh last year, while Ben Hubers (Indiana) who will also compete was ninth. The third-best time belongs to Paul Chelimo (UNC Greensboro) at 13:21.89.
Making a re-appearance in the 1500 is senior Trevor Van Ackeren. He ran in the finals of the 1500 in 2010, finishing 21st. Van Ackeren will run the semifinal of the 1500 on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. The top five in both heats along with the next two fastest times will compete in the final on Saturday at 11:17 a.m. Lawi Lalang (Arizona), Chris O'Hare (Tulsa) and Erik van Ingren (Binghamton) have the top three times in the nation in the event. van Ingren is the only top-10 returner from last year, as he placed sixth a year ago. Other top-10 returners include Miles Batty (BYU) and Patrick Casey (Oklahoma). Van Ackeren ran 3:48.72 in the quarterfinals of the East Regional to advance to championships weekend. He ran a PR of 3:44.26 at the Raleigh Relays earlier this season.
Portions of the championship will be aired on ESPN. On Thursday from 5:15-9:15 p.m., Friday from 6:30-8:30, and Saturday 11-1 p.m. on ESPNU. All times are Central. The championships can also be viewed on ESPN3.com.