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2006 Ivy Heps Men's Preview
Created: 10/24/2006 2:03:27 PM
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Sixteen times the Dartmouth Big Green has stood atop the team victory stand at the Ivy Heptagonal championships. Getting No. 17 won’t be easy according to the league’s coaches. Most feel that Dartmouth’s stiffest competition will come from the Princeton Tigers, who won three straight titles from 1997-99. Princeton was the runner-up to Dartmouth in this meet a year ago. The race gets underway at 10:45 am at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Here are the coaches’ viewpoints:
Brown (3rd at last year’s Heps) Coach Craig Lake
Athletes to Watch -- “On the men’s side, obviously [Dartmouth’s] Ben True is the favorite to defend his title. Steve Muchetti [Dartmouth], Michael Maag, and Dave Nightingale [both from Princeton] are up there as well. Chris Burke hopes to be in the mix as well.”
The Meet -- “Princeton men seem to be the favorite to win the title this year with Dartmouth a close second, and third being up for grabs. However, anything can happen come Heps. The league is pretty deep, and it will be a close one for the top four spots. We hope to be in the mix. We haven’t tapered yet all year, and are looking to step it up and reach our potential at Heps. It all comes down to this one day, and it is considered the most important race of the season without a doubt.
Columbia (5th) Coach Willy Wood
Athletes to Watch -- “Based upon the results of the Pre-NCAA meet, it would appear that Ben True should be considered the favorite today on the men’s side. I look for his teammate Steve Muchetti and two Princeton men, Michael Maag and David Nightingale, to be right there to insure an exciting finish. As far as our team is concerned, we don’t feel like we have a real front-runner. Our strength is that we think we can put five guys within 15 seconds of each other.”
The Meet -- “The men’s race is seemingly turning into a potential replay of last year’s dual meet between Princeton and Dartmouth. Both squads were significantly stronger than any of the other Ivies running in Terre Haute [at Pre-Nationals two weeks ago]. Brown looks to be the third-best team based on overall season results thus far.”
Cornell (6th) Men’s Distance Events Coach Robert Johnson
Athletes to Watch -- “Juniors Sage Canaday and Jimmy Wyner have led us up front all year long, and I fully expect them to both challenge for All-Ivy honors. The two have alternated serving as our No. 1 man all year long and have twice finished within five seconds of each other. Senior captain Brad Baird, last spring’s [Ivy Heps] steeplechase champion, will be looking to rise the occasion after getting off to a slow start this year due to illness and an a injury scare.”
The Meet -- “In terms of the team race, on paper it certainly looks to be a two-team race for the title between Princeton and Dartmouth with Princeton being the strong favorites. However, the last 20 years of history says to never discount Dartmouth as they always seem to rise to the occasion and are sort of the Arkansas of our conference. After those two, you have the Heps at its best as there are probably five schools hoping to get third, and all six are hoping to finish in the top half. [This supports] the notion as to why it can be said our conference is the deepest cross country conference in the nation. Last year, the Heps was the only conference where every team in it finished in the top 10 at the NCAA regional.”
Dartmouth (1st) Coach Barry Harwick
Athletes to Watch -- “Ben True '08 is the defending champion, and he is rounding into top form at exactly the right time. He is a great competitor, and we expect him to lead us again this year. Steve Mucchetti '07 is back for his fifth fall, and he is having his best cross country season; I expect him to be an All-Ivy performer. Alec Wall '08 was fourth at this meet last year, and we expect a big race from him as well.”
The Meet -- “In terms of the team battle, we expect a very strong challenge from Princeton. They have a deep and talented squad, and I predict a very close team score. We did our last hard workout [last] week ? the only time we get on the track all fall ? and it went extremely well, so I think we are ready to go.”
Harvard (8th) Coach Jason Saretsky
Athletes to Watch -- “We are focused on team goals this season. We really want to run as a pack and get our best finish possible. We’re excited about the possibilities this year and hope to move up the ranks.”
The Meet -- “As always, I believe the competition will be really tough this year. The Ivy League has always been one of the deepest cross country conferences in the nation. This year is no exception. On both the men’s and women’s side seven of the eight schools are regionally ranked in the top 10. I don’t know of another conference in the country that can say that. It should be a lot of fun. I am looking forward to being a part of both races after being away from the Ivy League for the last five years.”
Penn (4th) Coach Charlie Powell
Athletes to Watch -- “We’ve got a different type team this year in that we don’t have any real stars, but we’ve been able to run pretty well as a pack. The key for the season is that our one through five split has been under 30 seconds. Our leaders are Brian Goldberg, who won the outdoor 10k at Heps in the spring, and Ian Foley, who I think could run right with him but has been bothered by stress fractures.”
This Meet -- “I think the meet will be very interesting. You have two teams -- Dartmouth and Princeton -- with a ton of talent. Then you have Brown, Columbia, Cornell and us with good strong packs. At least that’s what you see when you look at the one through five results throughout the fall. Heps is always interesting, and this year’s meet won’t be any different. We always look forward to competing.”
Princeton (2nd) Assistant Coach Steve Dolan
Athletes to Watch -- “Dave Nightingale and Michael Maag have looked good in the early part of the season and seem prepared to run with the top runners in the league. Frank Tinney, Paul Rosa, and Brett Campfield have each been consistent scores and have the potential to get low numbers. Tim O’Neill and James O’Toole are both running at a new level this fall and have been regularly in our top seven. I also feel like we have a few other runners that are ready for a breakthrough race. I hope it happens at the Heps!”
The Meet -- “There is no meet like the Heptagonal Championships! The history and spirit of the meet is unmatched. It’s my favorite meet of the year and we are really looking forward to the race. I would consider Dartmouth the favorite on the men’s side since they won last year and return a number of key runners. They were worthy champions in 2005 since I felt our guys ran quite well to earn runner-up honors. We certainly hope to challenge them for the title this year. I have also been impressed with both Brown and Columbia thus far this season. Brown has an experienced team, and Columbia has great depth. I have great respect for both teams and assume they are gearing up for a run at the title. The rest of the teams in the league all have talented runners and are certainly capable of coming up with a big race. That is what makes this meet so exciting. All that matters is how you run on October 27th.”
Yale (7th) Coach Dan Ireland
Athletes to Watch -- “[Ben] True and [Steve] Mucchetti from Dartmouth, and [Michael] Maag and [Dave] Nightingale from Princeton had the best performances at the Pre-Nats, and True is the defending champion. Yale’s top performers to look for are Jake Gallagher and Andrew Pitts.”
The Meet -- “Princeton and Dartmouth seem, so far this season, to be clearly above the rest of the league, and the team title should go to one of them. After those two, the rest of the team finishes will come down to who runs the best on that day as the remaining six teams are somewhat comparable.”
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Related Schools: No Associated School
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Related Sports: Cross Country
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*This Article has been archived.*
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