Cross Country: Runners sweep Heps, shine at NCAAs

Princeton has a strong history of successful distance runners, and 2010 became yet another remarkable season for the men’s and women’s cross country teams. The Tigers swept the Heptagonal Championships by wide margins and both teams posted top-20 finishes at NCAAs, kick-starting what would be triple crown seasons for both sets of runners.

The men’s team entered the Ivy League championships bent on revenge after losing to Columbia by one point in 2009 – the only Heps defeat suffered by either Princeton squad in the last five years. Led by junior Donn Cabral, the Tigers took five of the top 13 places and finished with just 33 points, well ahead of second-place Dartmouth’s 55. The defending champion Lions came in a distant third at 94.

Cabral finished the five-mile run in 24 minutes, 3.8 seconds, which led the field by 10 seconds and was the second-fastest time in the history of the Heptagonal meet.

The men’s team was not the first that day to win with 33 points, as the women had posted that exact score just one hour earlier. The women’s team’s victory was even more comfortable, as second-place Columbia had 60 points, nearly twice as many as the champions.

Junior Alex Banfich also notched the second-best time in the history of her event, finishing in 16:58.9, a mark that has been bettered only by former Tiger Liz Costello ’10. Four of her teammates also placed among the top 11 runners, led by senior Ashley Higginson’s fourth-place finish.

Both teams were expected to perform well at the NCAA Cross Country Championship in late November, as the men and women were ranked No. 17 and No. 25, respectively. Both teams outperformed their impressive rankings en route to stellar finishes.

Led by Banfich’s time of 20:36, which was good for 20th in the large field, the women’s team finished 15th in the 31-team field. It marked the sixth top-15 finish for the Tigers since 2003.

The men’s team performed even better, earning a 12th place finish, the best showing in program history. Junior Brian Leung led the Orange and Black at 30:19, 21st among individuals. Cabral and senior Mark Amirault each finished less than 20 seconds later, placing 34th and 52nd, respectively.