Sports Shorts: Ivy contenders

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY kicks off the day's action at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, held annually at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. The Princeton women have won three straight Heps titles and will be the favorite again this year. Liz Costello ’10 has a chance to be just the second woman to win three individual Ivy titles in cross country. She ran the 5-kilometer course in 16:59.9 last year, a Heps record. In addition to Costello, five returning Tigers placed in the top 10 at Heps last year: Reilly Kiernan ’10, Alexa Glencer ’10, Sarah Cummings ’11, Ashley Higginson ’11, and Liz Deir ’11.

The MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY team, also a three-time defending champion, will rely on new contributors in its title chase. Brian Leung ’12, who placed sixth in 2009, is Princeton's only returning scorer from last year's race. Nine runners have finished in the Tigers' top five at least once this year: Leung, Donn Cabral ’12, Joe Stilin ’12, Rob Speare ’11, Sean Wilson ’12, Mark Amirault ’11, Hudson Andrews ’11, Trevor Van Ackeren ’12, and Dennis Walsh ’11.

The final event with Ivy-championship possibilities is FIELD HOCKEY’s game against Cornell, 6 p.m. at Class of 1952 Stadium. The 5-0 Tigers can clinch at least a share of the Ivy title with a win (second-place Yale is 4-1). Paced by star sophomores Kat Sharkey and Katie Reinprecht, Princeton (12-2 overall) has outscored Ivy opponents 29-4 this season. An Ivy title would be the team's fifth in a row and its 15th in the last 16 years.