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2006 Ivy Heps Women's Preview
Created: 10/24/2006 2:26:52 PM
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 Can Columbia work its magic here in its hometown for the fifth straight year? The coaches seem to think the team’s streak of four Ivy Heps titles will come to an end, courtesy of the Princeton Tigers. Princeton has not won the team title since 1982 when it completed a streak of three straight championships. Yale’s Lindsay Donaldson is the odds-on favorite to win the individual championship. The race will begin at 11:45 am.
Brown (5th at last year’s Heps) Coach Craig Lake
Athletes to Watch -- “[Yale’s] Lindsay Donaldson is by far the favorite individual on the women’s side. Mia Swenson and Jolee Van Leuven are strong from Princeton as well. Carmen Ballard from Columbia is also having a breakout season this fall. The women’s teams seem to have a lot of depth, and it’ll all come down to everyone’s fifth runner. We are looking for a big race from Smita Gupta, who has improved tremendously from last year. In addition, we have three freshmen that will be in our top 5-7. Despite graduating three of our top five runners from last year’s squad, the Brown women hope to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish."
The Meet -- “It will be a battle for second through fifth this year. On the women’s side, Princeton should definitely win. They have outstanding depth this season. Columbia will be up there as always. They have great experience and expect to do well. The third-place spot will be a battle. Penn is flying under the radar like they did last year. Cornell and Yale have had solid seasons as well. Our goal is to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish and to move up in the league.
Columbia (1st) Coach Willy Wood
Athletes to Watch -- “[Yale’s] Lindsey Donaldson appears to be the clear-cut favorite on the women’s side based upon the season’s results thus far. I would also look for [Penn’s] Claire Kim to be in the mix with 800 meters to go.We are confident that if we are able to fully actualize our potential that we can finish higher than most people would have thought coming into the season. Carmen Ballard has made great strides this fall and should have the capability to finish in the top 10.”
This Year’s Race -- “On the women’s side, Princeton looks to be hands down the team to beat. They appear to be unbeatable. Yale and Cornell have looked very strong all year, despite average races at the Pre-NCAA meet, and should battle for second. We have been preparing for this day for 150 straight days and hope to run our best race of the season.”
Cornell (6th) Coach Lou Duesing
Athletes to Watch -- The clear favorite is [Yale’s] Lindsay Donaldson for the individual title. After that, things are very much up in the air. [Princeton’s] Mia Swenson, [Penn’s] Kim sisters, [Cornell’s] Toni-Lynn Salucci, [Cornell’s] Nyam Kagwima, [Columbia’s] Carmen Ballard, as well as the three freshmen from Princeton, have all had excellent races during the season. The team standings will be determined as much by those up front as by the rest of each team’s top seven runners.
The Meet -- “The prohibitive team favorite is Princeton. It’s unlikely anyone will be able to challenge their depth. Second through sixth could be very tight between Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Penn and Yale (in alphabetical order!!!). For any team that ran at the Pre-National meet, I’m pretty certain that none of them expect to duplicate those results or expect to find that kind of race. In other words, I would not expect the order of finish in combining all races will not be the order of finish at the Heps! Penn ran very well at Lafayette so it is hard to compare them to the other seven who went to Indiana State. One thing is for certain ? there are always surprises at this meet, and this year should be no exception.”
Dartmouth (7th) Coach Maribel Sanchez Souther
Athletes to Watch -- “Susan Dunklee is our top returnee. She was in the top 10 as a frosh at Heps and then was injured last year but still ran in the top 30. She’s been very solid for us, and I expect her to be in the top 10, top 15. The rest of our team is primarily freshmen, so we’re very young.”
The Meet -- “Princeton-Columbia should go 1-2 in the team race, and I expect the usual really tough battle for places three through six. If we can keep our pack together, I do think we have a chance to be somewhere in the middle. Finishing four or five would be a really good day for us.”
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.”
This Year’s 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.”
Pennsylvania (3rd) Coach Gwen Harris
Athletes to Watch -- “I expect Mia Swenson from Princeton to do well. She has run very well for Princeton in their big meets to date and has beaten many of the other lead runners head-to-head. I also expect some of the other league leaders like Lindsay Donaldson (Yale) and Carmen Ballard (Columbia) to perform well. For my own squad, I’ll look to Stacy and Claire Kim to lead the Quakers.”
This Year’s Meet --“The Heptagonal Championships has always been a tremendous competition. As always, I feel every team in this league will come ready to race so anything can happen!”
Princeton (2nd) Coach Peter Farrell
Athletes to Watch -- “We have had a strong season as a team. We have a strong freshman class and a group of veterans who are rounding into shape at a good time. Mia Swenson has been our number-one runner. She has run very well all year. Catha and Caroline Mullen are two of the experienced runners who have done well, and Jolee Van Leuven has been up there. [Yale’s] Lindsay Donalson is the clear favorite for the individual title.”
The Meet -- “I guess we’re the favorite, which is a place we’re not used to being in. As always, this meet will have some great competition, and we expect a tough race. It’s the Heps.”
Yale (4th) Coach Mark Young
Athletes to Watch -- “First, Mia Swenson from Princeton has run well all season thus far. Stacy Kim has run well, as has Tony Salucci from Cornell. Lindsay Donaldson is the top returnee, and she has performed very well for us this year. Lots of new faces should be challenging at the top.
The Meet -- For the team title, Princeton is head and shoulders above the rest. Columbia, Cornell, Penn and Yale will battle for second through fifth, though Brown could surprise one or more of those. It should be an exciting day at Van Cortlandt Park, as usual.”
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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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