Track Talk

TigerBlog has made two trips to Iowa in his life, both of which were to see Princeton play basketball, both in December.

The first time, it was so cold that he though his face as going to freeze off in the three-second walk from the arena at Iowa State to the parking lot.

The second time it was so warm - record-settingly warm - that all of the frozen lakes thawed, creating the most intense fog TB has ever experienced.

Actually, on that second trip, TB and then-radio play-by-play man Tom McCarthy flew to Minneapolis to see TB's friend Larry Zucker, who moved from New Jersey to Minnesota, possibly going on the assumption that he'd found the one woman who would ever agree to marry him and therefore had no choice.

Anyway, after having dinner with the Zuckers, TB and McCarthy drove down Interstate 35 for what should have been a routine three-hour ride. Instead, because of the fog, it became a marathon.

As an aside, here is a list of states that TB has been for the sole reason that Princeton was playing basketball there:
Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Colorado, Kentucky and Ohio. Oh, an Hawaii. That's 12 states.

TB also drove from El Paso, Texas, to New Mexico when he was there for one tournament and flew into Missouri when Princeton played at Kansas. He was also with Princeton when it played Ohio University in Nova Scotia.

TB remembers Iowa as being relatively flat, and it seemed on the first trip, the one where it was freezing, that there were no hills or even trees to block the wind. He also remembers friendly people and endless options of food chains, including his first experience ever with an Outback Steakhouse.

The NCAA track and field championships are currently being held in Iowa, and the weather there is apparently even hotter than it was in TB's second December trip there.

The high temperature the next three days are supposed to be 85, 88 and 90 in Des Moines, and that's not quite perfect running weather.

TB has no idea what impact the heat will have on Donn Cabral's attempt to win the NCAA steeplechase championship.

Cabral has been the runner-up each of the last two years, and he runs in the semifinal tonight in the final event of Day 2 at Drake University. The steeplechase final is Saturday midday, when the heat should be fairly oppressive.

The top six in each semifinal and the next two fastest times will advance to the final.

Cabral has already run the fastest time in the steeplechase, not just from this year but ever. He also became something of an unknowing topic of conversation among those who work on the Jadwin Gym balcony, as his workouts on the track at Princeton are somewhat legendary by now.

Cabral is one of six Princeton athletes who are competing in Iowa.

Brian Leung finished 16th in the 10,000 yesterday, earning second-team All-America honors. In addition to Cabral, Princeton will also have Trevor Van Ackeren and Greta Feldman in the 1,500 semifinals today.

Triple-jumper Damon McLean and 5,000-meter man Joe Stilin compete tomorrow.

The NCAA championships are the last events of the year for Princeton Athletics.