Men's track triumphs at H-Y-Ps

Going into the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet Saturday in Cambridge, Mass., the men's indoor track team knew that it had more talent and depth than its rivals, event for event. The Tigers were confident and expected to dominate the field.

"We want to crush them," sophomore distance runner Paul Morrison said.

And they did just that.

Princeton (2-3 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) won the dual meet with 79 points to Harvard's 50 and Yale's 42. Sprinters, distance runners and throwers all contributed to the victory. The Tigers appear to be peaking at the right time of the season, with less than two weeks until the Heptagonal Championships Feb. 26-27 in Hanover, N.H.

While the men dominated Harvard (4-2, 2-2) and Yale (1-4, 0-3), Princeton's women's indoor track team (1-2, 1-2) fell short against both the Crimson (6-0, 4-0) and the Elis. The final score was Harvard 69, Yale 60 and Princeton 30. But the Tigers did manage to have outstanding performances from a number of athletes.

"We performed very well," women's head coach Peter Farrell said, "but we were just outmanned. They were just a bit stronger."

The Tigers won just one event outright but managed to take a number of second-place finishes. Princeton placed first and second in the 800 meters, with two sophomores, Lauren Simmons (two minutes, 14.03 seconds) and Natalie Deffenbaugh picking up the points (2:14.66).

Junior Sharon Jordan fell just inches short of a Yale competitor in the triple jump, leaping 11.87 meters, and freshman Amy Buchen was the runner-up in the pole vault with a mark of 2.85 meters.

The Tigers also added points in the high jump, with second, third and fourth places going to senior captain Shawneequa Callier (1.7 m), junior Rebecca Desman (also 1.7 m, more attempts), and junior Becky Haarlow (1.6 m), respectively.

Additionally, some of Princeton's athletes had impressive performances without scoring large numbers of points.

"[Sophomore] Holly Huffman and [freshman] Sarah Rivlin both had personal bests that were much better than they had ever [run] before," Farrell said.

In running events, Princeton missed the presence of senior captain Allison Brown, who is recovering from a leg injury.

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"Allison is big points for us," Farrell said. "We needed her out there."

If the women's performances went for naught, the men proved that they are the team to beat in the Ivy League. The Tigers won eight events outright with solid performances from the leaders of the team and also some younger athletes.

Junior captain Scott Denbo won the shot put with a throw of 57 feet, seven inches, and fellow thrower sophomore Liam Morton took the 35 lb. weight throw with a mark of 56' even. Freshman Javius Wynn made an impression by winning the long jump (22' 6''), and junior Jonathan Jessup triumphed in the pole vault (16' 3'').

The runners were just as successful, with usual suspects senior captain John Mack (1:03.22) and Morrison (8:14) winning the 500 and 3000, respectively. Sophomore Seamus Whelton took the 1000, clocking in at 2:27.14, and freshman Cameron Atkinson, better known for his football skills, triumphed in the 60 at 6.92.

The Princeton men added another strong performance at H-Y-Ps as it attempts to complete a third straight triple crown by capturing the Heps cross country, indoor track and outdoor track titles.

"Everything in our season builds towards the Heps," men's head coach Fred Samara said.

It looks like the Tigers will be favored to add the Heps indoor track championship to their cross country victory this fall. The women, however, must continue to fight and put up good performances against stronger squads.

"[Regarding Heps,] it's going to be tough," Farrell said. "We have to pull it together. We're undermanned."