Results

PRINCETON, N.J. – For the first time since 1998, the Cornell women's cross country team celebrated a first-place finish at the Heptagonal Championships on Saturday.

The Big Red's top five scorers all placed in the top 17 to give No. 25 Cornell a 49-point afternoon that bested second-place Columbia by a mere two points.

For the first time ever the women raced 6K as they do throughout the season instead of 5K like Heps has traditionally been. After sunny skies and a well-groomed course greeted the teams for the pre-meet run-through on Friday, a historic October nor'easter slammed the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday morning and an already dramatic meet added yet another sub-plot.

This was no mere storm: driving wind and rain in the morning soaked the course and snow began to fall as the men's 8K was underway – a race that saw several falls on an incredibly slick course and in very cold conditions. By the time the men finished, snow covered the course and the women were off under gusting winds and the air thick with heavy snow. At the end of the women's race, three inches of snow had fallen in the area and if the ground wasn't covered in snow, it was churned up in mud.

Two first-team and two second-team All-Ivy performances and a great closing finish by the team's fifth runner led to Cornell's win.

The Big Red women, who entered the meet ranked No. 25 in the nation, were absolutely fearless on Saturday. Despite the conditions and the challenges of taking on five-time defending champion Princeton on its home course as well as nationally competitive teams from Yale and Columbia, the Big Red set the tempo from the beginning and emerged victorious, scoring 49 points, edging a very good Columbia team, who scored 51.

Junior Katie Kellner led the Cornell charge early on, assuming control of the overall race lead at 800 meters, a lead she would hold for the next two and a half miles, even as wind and snow battered the field. In a great display of team running, classmate Genna Hartung eased up alongside Kellner at the 2K mark, turned to her teammate and said, “Do you want some help?”

With that, the two confidently pushed the pace together, stringing out the pack over the next 2000 meters. Close behind were the sophomore duo of Emily Shearer and Devin McMahon, and the Big Red had an impressive four in the top 14 at the halfway mark.

But as the race hit halfway, several teams were still in contention as Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth and Yale all had two runners in the top 10 and Princeton remained a very strong threat. Columbia seemed to have the edge, with the only team to have five in the top 20 at 3K. But for Cornell, a very strong quartet of senior Janel Parker, sophomores Rachel Sorna and Dale Kinney and freshman Marianne Collard were moving up and working together and were in roughly 25th place at 4K.

So it was in the last 2,000 meters that the Big Red won their championship. Kellner and Hartung closed out their gritty performance by finishing fourth (22:13.5 for Kellner) and fifth (22:14.5 for Hartung, her second career All-Ivy award), staying ahead of Columbia's second runner and close behind a terrific trio:  Dartmouth sophomore Abbey D'Agostino (the US Junior record-holder at 5000 meters and NCAA bronze medalist this past spring) won the race in 21:58.2, followed closely by Columbia's Waverly Neer (the 2011 US Junior champion at 3000 meters) and defending champion and All-American Alex Banfich of Princeton was third.

It was not a long wait for Cornell after Kellner and Hartung finished. Shearer showed that the weather was no deterrent as she continued her breakout sophomore year with a fantastic 11th-place finish in 22:31.9 to earn her first career All-Ivy honors in her very first Heps. Shearer raced with composure and was in a great rhythm throughout. And right behind her was McMahon, who earned a podium spot for the second straight year with a 12th-place finish of 22:32.4 in her best race of the season so far. After four runners, Cornell led Columbia 32-33.

The win was sealed in the last 1000 meters as senior Janel Parker had a heroic run to place 17th in 22:42.9, a full 33 spots better than last year. In 25th at 4K, Parker was in 21st by 5K and not only moved up four more spots but made up 7 seconds on Columbia's fifth runner in the final 1,000 meters. In passing Columbia's fifth in the final straightaway, Parker prevented a Cornell/Columbia tie and ensured an outright victory for the Big Red. On a mission to make a difference, Parker's last half of the race, like her teammates, was tremendous and the Big Red had a season best spread of only 29 seconds between its scoring runners.

Parker was followed closely by sophomore Rachel Sorna (25th, 23:00.0), sophomore Dale Kinney (28th, 23:04.5) and freshman Marianne Collard (30th, 23:05.9, the third best rookie in the race) who also raced well in the final part of the competition. The Big Red was the best team on the day and also the deepest, not just with 8 in the top 30 but with 10 in the top 45 and all 12 runners in the top 56. Also contributing to the Cornell cause was junior Cara Costich (41st, 23:21.2), freshman Jade Williams (45th, 23:30.3), junior Kate Rosettie (47th, 23:40.3) and senior captain Meghan Brown (56th, 23:51.9).

Kellner and Hartung will be named All-Ivy First-Team members for their top-seven finish at Heps, while Shearer and McMahon will earn Second-Team honors.

Next up for Cornell is the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships in Buffalo on Nov. 12, where bids to the NCAA Championships will be on the line.