A Triple Crown, Again

TigerBlog starts today with a reminder that the Ivy League softball tournament schedule has been changed, and changed again, due to 1) final exam conflicts and 2) possible rain.

Here is the actual schedule for the event, which is being hosted by Princeton:

Wednesday, May 8
Game 1 2:30pm #2 Yale vs. #3 Harvard
Game 2 5:00pm #1 Princeton vs. #4 Dartmouth

Thursday, May 9
Game 3 TBD Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 4 TBD Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2

Friday, May 10
Game 5 TBD Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3

Saturday, May 11
Game 6 12:00pm Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 7 (if necessary) 35 minutes following conclusion of game 6

Make-up Date: Sunday, May 12

So that's the softball story. The baseball story is still a week away, as Harvard and Yale play three regular season games this weekend. Columbia will be the host no matter what. Princeton will be the No. 2 seed unless Yale sweeps Harvard, in which case the Tigers will be the No. 3 seed. 

In the meantime, while you wait you can read THIS STORY about Jake Koonin and his father Jason Koonin, who are the first father-son to play for Scott Bradley at Princeton. 

And all of that brings TigerBlog to this past weekend at Weaver Track and Field Stadium, the site of the Ivy League Heptagonal championships. 

TigerBlog was on the bus back from the Ivy men's lacrosse tournament when he received a text message from his colleague Chas Dorman, who said that the women's Heps was incredibly close. When TB asked about the men, Chas replied "not as close."

He was right on both counts.

The Ivy women's title went to Penn, who won the championship on the final event to edge out Princeton 184.5-184. That's one-half a point. 

It was the second time that that a women's outdoor Heps was decided by a one-point, the other back in 1997, when Princeton again was edged, this time by Cornell. As amazing as it may seem, those two aren't the closest finishes: Princeton and Brown tied in 1996.

Princeton's Alexandra Kelly was named the Most Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet after winning the long jump and finishing second in the triple jump.

As for the men, Chas was right — it wasn't close. Princeton put up 204.5 points. The runner-up, Harvard, had 126.

The result was the completion of a Triple Crown for the Tigers, who have, again, won the men's cross country, indoor track and field and now outdoor track and field championships in the same academic year. How many times has Princeton do so? 

This year makes 11. 

How many times has every other league team do it? Well, perhaps this answers that question: Jason Vigilante is the second head coach to lead his team to the Triple Crown. The first was Fred Samara, who did it 10 times.

In other words, nobody else other than Princeton has ever accomplished it in men's track and field.

Jackson Clarke was the Most Outstanding Track Athlete in the meet after winning the 100 and 200 and  being part of the second-place 4x100 relay. Oh, and he's a freshman.

Of course, TB's favorite event in track and field is the 3,000 meter steeplechase, and Princeton had another Jackson — Shorten — win this one. Shorten, a sophomore, shaved six seconds of his Heps time of last year, when he first fourth. 

Another freshman, Xavier Donaldson, took the 400. Junior Sam Rodman won the 800.

This win, like all wins in such meets, is not done by winning races. It's by stacking finishers near the top in as many races as possible, and that's what Princeton did so well, as it always does. 

The shot put was the perfect example. Princeton didn't win, but it went 2-3-4, with Tyler Konopka, Joe Licata and Casey Helm.

There will be plenty of chances for individual accomplishments at the NCAA Regionals, which come up in Lexington, Kentucky, May 22-25. 

For now it's a chance to celebrate the 11th Triple Crown for the men's track and field team — and "team" is the perfect word to use, even in an individual sport.