Men's head coach Barry Harwick said that the latter part of the season has been tough coaching-wise because the team is competing in two separate meets almost every weekend.
"It's tough having to split up," Harwick said. "We spent a fair amount of time this week as coaches trying to determine who was going to go to each meet. The men's team is sending several distance runners to compete at Princeton, while some of the team will compete in Boston."
Women's distance coach Mark Coogan will lead the group headed to the Twilight Meet.
"My group [women's team] is not taking many girls down to Princeton for the ECACs," Coogan said. "Some of our girls who are on the bubble in qualifying for the NCAA Regionals will use the Twilight Meet as an opportunity to run really fast times."
Abbey D'Agostino '14, Alexi Pappas '12, Chrissy Supino '12 and Arianna Vailas '14 will all compete in the 1,500-meter run at the Twilight Meet. Last weekend at the Heptagonal Championships at the University of Pennsylvania, D'Agostino shattered the meet record in the 1,500-meter run after crossing the finish line in 4:17.90, while Vailas finished fourth in the race in 4:24.13. Pappas claimed the victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, setting a meet record with a time of 9:58.80. Supino ran a 2:09.19 in the 800-meter run, good for a sixth-place finish. D'Agostino and Pappas also went first-second in the 3,000 meters, with D'Agostino setting a new meet record of 9:24.64.
D'Agostino, Pappas and Supino have already qualified for the NCAA Regionals, while Vailas is close to doing so. The top 48 declared entrants in each event make the regional field, and Vailas currently sits in 67th place in the East. Vailas may end up qualifying regardless because some athletes ahead of her may scratch to compete in a different event. Supino, ranked 81st, is also on the bubble in the race, but she has already qualified in the 800-meter run, as her time of 2:07.25 ranks her 34th.
"Chrissy and Arianna are right on the bubble, and we hope after this weekend they will be able to compete at the next level up in the Regionals," Coogan said.
On the men's side, Mike Danaher '13, Luke Decker '15 and Silas Talbot '15 are entered in the 1,500-meter run at the Twilight Meet. Danaher and Henry Russell '15 are entered in the 5,000-meter run, while Decker, Matt Miner '12, and Joe Woiwode '14 are all entered in the 800-meter run. Depending on the level of competition in each event, athletes like Danaher and Decker may elect to run only one event at the meet.
At the IC4As, the Big Green expects good showings from Connor Reilly '13, who took second in the 100-meter dash at Heps, and Henry Sterling '14, who finished sixth at Heps in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Harwick hopes that John Bleday '14 can run a faster time in the 5,000-meter run in order to qualify for Regionals, as the sophomore currently sits in 62nd on the performance list. Lukas Zirngibl '14 will compete the 800-meter run at the IC4As, also looking to improve upon his time of 1:50.40, which is currently good for 55th in the East.
The women will look to garner strong performances from some of their throwers and jumpers at the ECAC Championships. The Big Green can expect top performances from Heps scorers Emmaline Berg '13 in the shot put, Cathy Liebowitz '15 in the hammer and Megan Krumpoch '14 in the 400-meter hurdles. Heps heptathlon champion Janae Dunchack '14 will compete in the high jump.
Harwick said that recovery was important this week.
"We arrived back from the Ivy Championships very late on Sunday night and are leaving once again this Thursday," Harwick said. "It's pretty challenging for our student-athletes."
Harwick said that practices this week have focused on the mental more than the physical aspect of the sport.
"Because of the short turnaround from meets this week, our goal this week has been to recover and stay mentally focused," Harwick said. "The Heps were very climatic, and sometimes it is hard to rebuild that level of enthusiasm for the upcoming weeks. But we still have more to accomplish, so this weekend is a big deal for us."
The IC4As and ECACs begin on Friday and conclude on Sunday, while the Twilight Meet will be held Saturday evening.
Two weeks from now, qualifying athletes will compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Round May 24-26. in Jacksonville, Fla. The top 12 athletes in each event at the Regional qualify for the NCAA Championships in June.
