Light Blue Hopes to Repeat Success at Ivy Heps

Columbia cross country head coach Willy Wood has a trick up his sleeve for Friday’s Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, but it’s not a new unbeatable running strategy or the return of a top runner. Instead, Wood is counting on the unique home-field advantage that the Lions gain by running at Van Cortlandt Park.

“I think our team has an edge over everybody with this being our home course, and that we know it very well,” Wood said. “Our strategies have been derived from how to best race at Van Cortlandt.”

The Light Blue will need every advantage it can get at Heptagonals if it hopes to repeat 2006’s unexpected second-place finish for both the men’s and women’s squads. The competition for this year’s championship is expected to be just as intense as last season’s, with Princeton, Cornell, Brown, and Dartmouth all contending for the title. In Wood’s mind, however, the Tigers enter Friday’s race as the heavy favorite.

“Princeton is still the clear-cut favorite,” he said. “They [the women’s team] beat the second-ranked team in the nation a couple of weeks ago.”

The Tigers have been on a roll in the last month, with the women’s side pulling off an impressive first-place finish in the White race at Pre-Nationals on Oct. 13. Princeton, led by sophomores Liz Costello and Christy Johnson, took down second-ranked Colorado and Pac-10 powerhouse Arizona State en route to the win, which bumped the Tigers up to a fourth-place ranking in the NCAA. The men, while unranked, also performed well at Pre-Nationals, and will be bolstered at Heptagonals by the return of 2006 All-American David Nightingale.

But while Wood expects the Tigers to take home first place in both races at Heptagonals, he says that the Lions’ basic mindset has not changed.

“We’re never going to enter a meet with the goal of being second,” he said. “Our goal is definitely to be in the top two. Anything less would not be meeting our full potential.”

As usual, the Light Blue strategy for Heptagonals is the pack running style that has served the team so well in years past. This style, in which runners move through the crowd in small packs, serves well on a narrow and hilly course like Van Cortlandt. Additionally, the emphasis on pack running serves to keep runners together with the goal of improving the overall team score and preventing Columbia from getting lost in the crowd.

Last year, the Lions pulled off second-place finishes despite having relatively young teams. Little has changed for this year, with Wood again recognizing that several of his underclassmen will play vital roles on Friday. In particular, Wood singled out freshmen Jackie Drouin on the women’s side and Dustin Martin for the men. Drouin has been one of Columbia’s top finishers this season, routinely placing in the top five on the team.

The top women’s teams in the Ivy League have all featured strong youth movements this year. Besides Princeton, Cornell and Brown have also built their success on underclassmen, with freshman Kim Standridge and sophomore Stephanie Pancoast setting the pace for the Big Red, while sophomores Ariel Wright and Jenna Ridgway have been two of Brown’s best runners all season

But no matter the situation, Wood is confident that his young runners have the temperament necessary to succeed in Ivy League competition.

“All these kids were incredible high school runners,” he said. “They have no insecurity and no fear, and they’re fully confident.”

The hope for Columbia, then, is that this relatively young group, combined with the intricacies of Van Cortlandt Park, can help propel both teams into the top of the field.

The reporter of this article can be reached at sports@columbiaspectator.com.