NEW YORK, N.Y. – The 2019 Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championship - an event always packed with energy, strategy and adrenaline – returns to New York City at the iconic Van Cortlandt Park this Friday with the men’s and women’s titles on the line. The races will feature five Ivies that have been nationally-ranked throughout the 2019 season.
 
The men’s race, which features 13 of last year’s 14 All-Ivy performers, is set to begin at 12 p.m. Live results of the race can be found here.
 


WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• THREE-PEAT – Princeton – which is ranked No. 25 in this week’s national poll – enters the championship looking to capture its third straight Ivy League Heptagonal title and 10th in the previous 14th years. Four of the five runners from last year’s championship squad are back, led by Conor Lundy, who was less than a second behind Harvard’s Kieran Tuntivate for the individual title. Lundy is coming off a 31st-place finish for Princeton at the highly competitive Nuttycombe Invitational where the senior clocked a time of 24:05.8.
• FAMILIAR FACES – Several familiar faces will take the line on Friday as 13 of the 14 All-Ivy performers from a season ago are set to return for the 2019 edition of Heps. No. 25 Princeton and Harvard combine to return eight All-Ivy performers, including the harriers that finished 1-6. Dartmouth, which placed third in 2018, is led by a trio of All-Ivy selections in junior Owen Ritz (first-team), seniors Henry Raymond (second-team) and Marco Pompilj (second-team). Penn’s Anthony Russo and Sam Webb raced to second-team honors, while Columbia’s Kenny Vasbinder took ninth overall to earn second-team.
• EYE ON THE PRIZE – Harvard senior Kieran Tuntivate looks to become the eighth two-time champion and first since Dartmouth’s Ben Rue won three consecutive crowns from 2006-08. Tuntivate paced the Crimson a season ago to its highest score since 1984 and its best finish at the event since 1984. The senior most recently clocked a 24:21.4, good for 57th, at the Nuttycombe Invitational. Tuntivate has paced the team in three of its four events this season, including a first-place finish at the Coast-to-Coast Battle for Beantown. 
• STACKED FIELD – All eight Ivies are ranked in their regionals heading into Friday’s championship event. Princeton, which is slotted No. 1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, is also the lone Ivy in the top-25 of the USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll. Penn joins the Tigers in the Mid-Atlantic Region, coming in a No. 5. In the Northeast Region, No. 5 Dartmouth, No. 6 Harvard and No. 7 Yale lead the way followed by No. 10 Columbia, No. 13 Brown and No. 14 Cornell.
• RACE TO REGIONALS – The NCAA Regionals are slated for Friday, Nov. 15 with No. 25 Princeton and Penn competing in the Mid-Atlantic Regional held at Lehigh University, while Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale will be in Buffalo New York at the Northeast Regional. The top two teams from each Regional automatically advance to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 23 at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute Indiana, while the remaining squads and runners will look to earn an at-large berth.