Dartmouth Men's Cross Country Second at Heps; Big Green Women Fourth

Friday, October 29

TBA

Dartmouth College

Heps Championship

Dartmouth Men's Cross Country Second at Heps; Big Green Women Fourth

10/28/2004 8:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

By: Dartmouth

Oct. 29, 2004

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In near perfect weather for cross country, freshman Ben True helped the Dartmouth men improve to second in the annual Heptagonal Championship, while junior Melanie Schorr paced the women to fourth place.

Under gray skies in 50 degree temperatures, True ran to 10th place in his first Van Cortlandt Park race as a collegian. His time of 25:03.1 was two seconds out of eighth as Bruce Hyde of Cornell won in 24:35.5.

True's effort was particularly impressive as seven seniors and two juniors finished ahead of him. He earned second team All-Ivy recognition. "I think Ben handled the pressure very well," said Dartmouth coach Barry Harwick. "Ben responded well and he competed well. This was a great first Heps for him."

After winning three straight years from 2000-2002, Dartmouth fell to fourth last year. In an extremely competitive team race, Columbia won its first Heps title since 1979 with 70 points, while the Big Green was only nine points back at 79.

"We definitely improved from last year," said Harwick, "but it was still disappointing. Columbia's a very good team and they ran great today. They deserved to win. We're still capable of racing with them, and I'm glad they are in our region so we'll have another chance at them in two weeks."

Harwick added, "Nine points in a meet like this is actually a very small margin of error, but Columbia just closed better over the last two miles than we did."

True said, "I'm a little disappointed. I feel like I didn't have it all in me today. The team raced well, but it's too bad we couldn't get our nice pack there a little further up."

True was followed to the finish line by sophomore Ian Marcus, 15th in 25:16.6; junior Dave Burnham, 17th in 25:21.9; senior Quinn Thomas, 18th in 25:23.3; and sophomore Steve Mucchetti, 19th in 25:24.2.

On the women's side, Schorr ran a personal best time of 17:31.7 to grab eighth place and second team All-Ivy honors. Freshman Susan Dunklee was impressive in her first race at Van Cortlandt Park, turning in a time of 17:51.6 for 11th place.

"I was really happy with my time," said Schorr. "It was about a 15-second PR.I was really hoping, going into the race, to be in the top five, and take a shot at winning. Everyone ran so strong, and I think it's a great league. It really makes me want to get even better."

The Columbia women won their third straight title with 51 points, grouping seven runners in the top 17. Princeton was second with 64, followed by Yale with 73 and Dartmouth with 108.

"Melanie ran a great race, as usual," said coach Maribel Souther. "She's always consistent. Susan, our freshman, came through, but we just struggled with our three-four-five."

Along with the Dartmouth men, the women return to Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday, November 13 for the NCAA regionals. "I hope this helps," said Souther. "Races can give you that confidence booster for the next competition."

Also scoring for Dartmouth were junior Megan Olds, 27th in 18:30.1; sophomore Hilary Dionne, 29th in 18:30.7; and senior Kristen Ettensohn, 34th in 18:40.5.

Junior Caroline Bierbaum of Columbia won in 17:12.2, the third fastest time in Heps history.

For complete results Click here