Forrest Wins Individual Title at Ivy League Heps

Friday, October 27

Van Cortlandt Park

11:00 AM

Princeton University

Ivy Heps

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

October 27, 2017 | Women's Cross Country

Results

BRONX (10/27/17) - Junior Gabi Forrest wowed the crowd as she became the eighth Princeton Tiger to win the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships on Friday afternoon, outkicking Yale's Andrea Masterson down the straightaway. Princeton finished fourth as a team with 98 points.

What a kick by Gabi Forrest! #forthewin pic.twitter.com/R8KHJUca9v
— Princeton Track/XC (@PrincetonTrack) October 27, 2017

Forrest flew under the radar in the Ivy League, despite being the second Tiger across the line in both races she competed in at Penn State and Paul Short. With it being her first time running Ivy Heps, even Forrest didn't know what to expect from herself.

"It felt amazing, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates," Forrest said. "This season it has been truly amazing to see how far we've come and I'm just over the moon for what is to come this season and beyond."

Forrest's mother, Norelle, flew all the way from their native Brisbane, Australia for today's race.

"I saw her before then and I thought 'that's Gabi!' and I couldn't believe it on one level but I saw her running at the beginning of the race and she looked really strong," Norelle said. "I know anything is possible when she sets her mind to it and it was just phenomenial. I was here regardless of what position she came, I was just excited to see her race."

The thrill of victory is sweet pic.twitter.com/8Yh5M0mTef
— Princeton Track/XC (@PrincetonTrack) October 27, 2017

Columbia won the race with a score of 66, followed by Dartmouth with 73, Yale's 89 and Princeton with 98. Cornell was fourth, followed by Brown, Penn and Harvard in last place.

In the last decade Princeton has been the individual champion five times and three times in the past four years.

The 2014 Ivy League Champion Megan Curham was the second Tiger across the line in just her second race of the season posting a time of 21:50.3. Curham took last year off from Princeton during the Olympic year with last week's Penn State National Open being her first collegiate cross country race since the 2014 NCAA Championships. Junior Allie Klimkiewicz was right behind Curham in 22nd place with a time of 21:5.2.2 and junior Madison Offstein scored in her Heps with a 21:57.5 for 26th place. Freshman Sophie Cantine was the final scorer, coming in 28th, at 22:01.1.

Sophomore Rachel Granovsky and freshman Melia Chittenden took the 6-7 positions with times of 22:04.3 and 22:19.9. Senior Melinda Renuart clocked 22:22.3 while Brighie Leach ran 22:30.3 to all finish in the top 50.

Princeton's next focus is on the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 10 at Penn State. If the Tigers can finish in the top two they will be assured of a place in the NCAA Championships.

Princeton Scorers
1. Gabi Forrest 21:02.3
21. Megan Curham 21:50.3
22. Allie Klimkiewicz 21:52.2
26. Madison Offstein 21:57.5
28. Sophie Cantine 22:01.1
30. Rachel Granovsky 22:04.3
39. Melia Chittenden 22:19.9
42. Melinda Renuart 22:22.3
49. Brighie Leach 22:30.3
65. Alie Fordyce 22:45.9
72. Peyton Brown 23:01.3
79. Melissa Reed 23:10.0