Year in review: Men’s cross country edges Princeton for Heptagonal championship

It was a sweet year for Columbia men’s cross country, as the Lions strung together a series of solid performances that culminated with the recovery of the Ivy crown. Two Lions—junior Brendan Martin and sophomore Kyle Merber—made all-Ivy teams in what was the third Heptagonal title in the program’s history.

The season began with a dominant win at the customary opener, the Binghamton Invitational, with the men taking 12 of the top 14 spots. Three weeks later, with a tough September of training under their belts, they headed south to Fairfax, Va. for the George Mason Invitational. There, they were runner-up to the University of Virginia in a performance that showcased their depth—they put 12 men ahead of Virginia’s seventh.

After defending its title at the Metropolitan Championships, the Light Blue headed to Terre Haute, Ind. for the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 17. The team finished 12th of 35 teams in a race that saw Martin and Merber solidify their roles as a 1-2 punch, taking 46th and 54th overall. Meanwhile, junior Terence Prial had a breakout run to win the open section individually. Two weeks later, the Lions were hosting the Ivy Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

The 2009 Heptagonal Championships evidenced everything that is great about Ivy League cross country. In a fiercely contested race that came down to the fifth man, the Lions edged out the Princeton Tigers 60 to 61. Had any runner finished one spot off, the result would have been a tie—or worse, a Tiger victory. Martin paced the group with a fifth-place, first-team all-Ivy performance, with Merber right behind in eighth—good for second team all-Ivy. Prial rode the momentum of his Pre-Nats win to come up huge for the Lions, finishing 12th. When sophomore Justin Heck crossed the line at 15th, he narrowed Princeton’s lead from five to two. But it took junior Anthony Merra’s 20th-place run—ahead of Princeton’s fifth runner at 23rd—to secure victory. After a bittersweet three-point loss the previous fall, the Lions had clinched the conference championship.

The Big Dance was not in the cards for the Lions this year, as they finished fourth at the NCAA Northeast Region Meet. The top two teams won automatic bids to NCAAs, while most of the at-large bids went to the West. However, the future looks very bright, as all five of 2009’s Heptagonal scorers will return. Though a great season in itself, the current makeup of the team would indicate that this year will be only the beginning of a transition for the Lions to the national scene.