Ballard Leads Light Blue to Second Place Finish at Ivy Heptagonals

Behind a sensational effort from senior Carmen Ballard, the Columbia women’s cross country team pulled off a second-place finish at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships at Van Cortlandt Park on Friday. It was their second straight runner-up finish to Princeton, who captured the Ivy League title with a total score of 25.

Ballard was the top Columbia runner on the day, placing fourth out of a field of 90 runners with a time of 17:37.4 on the five-kilometer course. Ballard was followed by freshman Jackie Drouin, who came in 11th in 17:54.2. Drouin beat out senior Stephanie Lenihan for the team’s second spot by four seconds, and juniors Alaina Miller and Kari Higdem rounded out the Columbia top five. Princeton’s dynamic duo of Liz Costello and Christy Johnson took first and second places, respectively, with Costello finishing the race in 17:14.4. The Lions ended the day with 69 points, easily beating out Brown for second place.

The Light Blue men, who finished with 101 points, were narrowly edged out by Penn for third place. Sophomore James Bogner took top honors for the Lions, turning in a time of 25:11.6 on the five-mile course—good for 12th place overall. Columbia’s top five finishers for the race were Bogner, juniors Paul Morris and Jeff Randall, freshman Thomas Poland, and senior Dan Whitt. Princeton’s Michael Maag beat out Cornell’s Sage Canaday for first place, finishing the race in 24:37.9, as the Tigers earned the overall team victory with 38 points.

Princeton swept the Ivy championships for a second straight year—a feat last achieved by Columbia in 2004. The women’s score of 25 was the lowest winning score since Dartmouth won with 23 points in 1997.

Costello and Johnson became the first Princeton women to finish first and second since the 2003 season. For her efforts, Ballard earned first team All Ivy League honors. Drouin, Lenihan, and Bogner were named to the second team.

With the Ivy season now over, the focus for the Lions turns to national competition, with the NCAA Northeast Regionals—on Nov. 10—in Boston, and the NCAA Championships—on Nov. 19—for those that qualify