The Princeton Tigers finished fifth at the NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship for the second straight year as Villanova pulled away with a surprising national championship. Senior Liz Costello, as expected, was the first member of the Orange and Black across the finish line, taking 18th in 20:25. That was about 40 seconds behind winner Angela Bizzarri of Illinois.
The prohibitive favorite, Jenny Barringer of Colorado, struggled physically and finished in the bottom half of the race, taking the Buffs out of contention for the team title. Villanova cruised to victory with 86 points, followed by Florida State (133), defending champion Washington (188), Texas Tech (191) and Princeton (251).
For Princeton, sophomore Alex Banfich was 43rd (20:58) with juniors Sarah Cummings 49th (21:01) and Ashley Higginson 57th (21:07). Senior Reilly Kiernan was the team’s final scorer in 84th (21:19) while senior Alexa Glencer (132nd, 21:45) and junior Liz Deir (140th, 21:51) battled as well on the course in Terre Haute, Ind.
The South Bend Tribune, focusing on hometown star Banfich, talked to Coach Peter Farrell afterward. He said, “Sometimes, the nerves take over. We probably went out too hard. It’s OK, I’ll take a dozen more Alex Banfiches, if you’ve got any. I can’t tell you how much she means to our program.”
Two Harvard females also ran with junior Claire Richardson finishing 100th (21:17) and sophomore Kailyn Kuzmuk taking 185th (21:55).
No Ivy men’s teams competed as Oklahoma State won the team title and Liberty junior Samuel Chelanga crushed the course record by 22 seconds (28:41.3). Four Heps athletes did run individually, led by Harvard junior and Heps champion Dan Chenoweth, who was 42nd in 30:23.6. Also competing were three other juniors — Cornell’s Nate Edelman (93rd, 30:51.3), Princeton’s Rob Speare (123rd, 31:09.5) and Brown’s Christian Escareno (204th, 32:01.0).
For full results, please click here.
HepsTrack.com 
“The prohibitive favorite, Jenny Barringer of Colorado, struggled physically and finished in the bottom half of the race, taking the Buffs out of contention for the team title.”
Colorado finished 20th w/458 pts. If Barrringer finished 1st instead of 134th, CU scores 329=458-134+1+4 (b/c she shifts each of her top 4 down one spot). All other team scores would increase by 5 points of displacement, and CU would finish 11th. Maybe her teammates slowed to help her but she didn’t say that in her Flotrack interview posted today.
This was written before the results were available, but it is clear that Colorado was considered a title threat entering the race (the Buffs were picked fourth in the Lets Run pre-meet poll).
When Jenny Barringer finished 133 places lower than expected, winning was clearly no longer an option for Colorado. This is not any indictment of Barringer. She is a phenomenal athlete who will represent the U.S. for years to come. But what was written was an accurate portrayal of the event.