The men's and women's cross country teams climbed the Ivy vine this past Friday at the Heptagonal Ivy League Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. Both teams improved upon their seventh place finishes last year, with the women jumping to third place overall and the men finishing in sixth.
Princeton dominated both races. Its men's squad finished first with 38 points, and the women won with a total of just 25 points, the fourth-lowest point total in Heps history.
On the women's side, Smita Gupta '08 paved the way for the Bears by earning sixth place with a time of 17:46.5 on the five-kilometer course. Right behind her in seventh place was Ariel Wright '10 with a time of 17:48. Both Gupta and Wright received first team All-Ivy honors for their efforts.
"It was huge that we had two girls finish in the top 10 considering we were lacking depth with some of our top girls and freshmen being injured," Gupta said.
"We were ecstatic with the women's results. It is the highest finish for the women's team in seven years - since 2000! It shows we are quickly improving," wrote Director of Track and Field Craig Lake in an e-mail to The Herald.
Rounding out the field for the Bears were Jenna Ridgway '10 (18:15.5), Lauren Pischel '11 (18:29.2) and Kesley Ramsey '11 (18:52.6). According to Lake, Ridgway had been the team's top runner all season but did not feel well during the race. But Lake was especially impressed with Ramsey and Pischel, as Ramsey ran the course 40 seconds faster than she did in high school and Pischel "surpassed all expectations."
Once again, Christian Escareno '10 was the lead runner for the men's team, placing ninth overall in a time of 25:03 on the eight-kilometer men's course.
"My goal was to get a medal (the top 12 receive medals) and I did just that. When I passed the first mile in 4:47 and felt strong and in control, I knew that I was going to achieve my goal. I've raced two Heps now and have two more to go. I can't wait for round three ... next year I'm going for the win," Escareno said.
"Although we weren't pleased with (the men's team's) sixth-place finish and know that there is more there, we did have some solid great performances. We did improve on last year's finish ... but our goal was and will be to place higher," wrote Lake.
Ari Zamar '08 placed 27th in 25:27, and Stephen Chaloner '09 (25:31.4), Brian Schmidt '09 (25:39.3) and Duriel Hardy '10 (25:41.7) finished up for the Bears. Lake said Chaloner ran a personal best by 22 seconds, and Schmidt, Hardy and Loeser ran personal bests as well.
