BRONX, N.Y. -- It was another festive fall day at Van Cortlandt Park as the Heptagonal Cross Country Championships were contested under mostly sunny skies and great fall weather.  Despite significant construction at the park that forced major alterations to the course, venerable Van Cortlandt Park proved yet again to be a great venue, as a large contingent of family and alumni were on hand.  The Cornell men tied for third (with Dartmouth), their third consecutive top three "podium" finish at the cross country Heps while the Cornell women finished fourth for the second straight year.  The Big Red women were led by a pair of second team All-Ivy performances, from senior Stephanie Pancoast and freshman Genna Hartung while the men were led by a terrific fourth place (and first-team All-Ivy) showing from junior Nate Edelman and also garnered a second-team All-Ivy performance from junior Matt DeSilva.  In the team competition, the Columbia men edged Princeton by 1 point to end the Tigers three year victory streak while the Princeton women had an historic showing, sweeping the top five places for a perfect score of 15; nationally ranked Harvard and host Columbia were second and third.

The men raced second and put forth a very good effort to secure a podium finish for the third straight year, as men's distance coach Robert Johnson's runners again saved their best team performance for the championship part of the season.  Junior Nate Edelman was outstanding, contending with the leaders throughout the race before finishing fourth in 25:31.2 for 5 miles. The men's course was also impacted by the course construction and the men faced a longer stretch on the opening flats before hitting the Back Hills; they still finished with Cemetary Hill but the new layout slowed the finishing times in a noticeable way.  After Edelman, junior Matt DeSilva earned his first career All-Ivy honors with a 14th place finish of 25:50.9, a very good effort for his first Heps.  Cornell secured a podium finish due to the efforts of a trio of seniors in the 3-4-5 positions.  Co-captain Charlie Hatch was 21st in 26:04.2, Joel Frost-Tift was 24th in 26:15.5 and co-captain Dale Taylor was 27th in 26:19.2, all career best finishes.  Another senior, Pete Loy ran very well to get 30th in 26:26.6 and junior Max Kasak was 31st in 26:27.2 to round out the top seven.  Freshman Kevin Johnson was the second first-year student to cross the line, placing 35th in 26:37.7, senior Brad Bogdan was 36th in 26:38.8, freshman Brett Kelly was 50th in 26:57.0, senior Owen Kimple was 60th in 27:08.4 and freshman Adam Trofas was 78th in 27:39.2.  Columbia edged Princeton by one point, 60-61 to win the team title in a thrilling competition.  Cornell and Dartmouth tied for third with 90 points (ties are not broken in collegiate cross country competition, except at the NCAA Regional meet for purposes of selecting teams for the national championships). Brown was fifth with 106, Harvard was sixth with 139, Yale had 160 and Penn was eighth with 215 points.  In the individual race, Harvard junior Dan Chenoweth was first in 25:09.2.

The women were off first, and this year's Van Cortlandt Park 5k layout meant a different starting line and a quicker entrance into the cow path and Back Hills; it also meant an unusual finish for the women, as the women ran backwards into the traditional finish line. The Cornell women did not get a great start but moved up well in the Back Hills.  Senior captain Stephanie Pancoast placed a career best 9th in a personal best 17:40.9 to earn All-Ivy honors for the second straight year.  Freshman Genna Hartung was the first rookie finisher in the race, placing an outstanding 11th in 17:50.7. Next up was another freshman, Katie Kellner, who was 23rd in 18:18.8; she was followed closely by sophomore Meghan Brown who had a terrific break-through performance to place 26th in a personal best 18:20.0. Freshman Kelsey Karys rounded out the scoring five for the Big Red, placing 28th in 18:21.9 in a very good race.  Senior Erin Roberts placed a career-best 29th in 18:22.7 and junior Maura Carroll was a career-best 31st in 18:25.2.  Also competing for Cornell was sophomore Emma Clarke (43rd, 18:39.1), junior Kristin Sellers (47th, 18:52.7), sophomore Chrisitne Smith (50th, 18:55.1), freshman Cara Costich (55th, 18:58.0), and sophomore Shelby Herman (60th, 19:08.8). Princeton, with 15 points, won their fourth straight Heps title, Harvard ran well to get second with 69, Columbia was a close third with 75 and the Big Red scored 97 in fourth.  Brown was fifth with 119, Dartmouth had 167, Penn 195 and Yale was eighth with 238.  In the individual race, Princeton junior Liz Costello won for the third straight year, in a time of 16:55.7.

Complete results can be found at:
http://www.plattsys.com/m1shell.asp?eventid=586&webadd=/results/res2009/hep09.txt

Next up for Cornell is the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships at Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday, November 14th.  The NCAA Championships return to Terre Haute, IN on Monday, November 23rd.