Oct. 12, 2005
Track & Field News, which calls itself "The Bible of the Sport", has predicted that Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum will win the 2005 NCAA Cross Country Championships. In its October issue, the publication chose the senior from Manhattan's Upper East Side to finish first of more than 250 runners in the NCAA's, which will be run Monday, November 21 at Indiana State University.
Exhibiting a high regard for Ivy League distance running, Track & Field News predicted that Ivy athletes would finish in the top three spots -- Bierbaum, a three-time All-American in cross country and track last season, followed by cross country All-American Lindsay Donaldson of Yale and outdoor track All-American Lindsey Scherf of Harvard.
Both Bierbaum (third) and Donaldson (sixth) placed in the top ten at the 2004 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
"Over the course of last season, Caroline established herself as one of the nation's premier women's distance runners," head coach Willy Wood said. "I am not surprised by the prediction in this month's issue of Track & Field News."
"However," he noted, "it is just a prediction based upon last year's achievements. There are a handful of women across the country right now who wake up each morning with the thought of being a national champion. Caroline is no different."
The Columbia women's team, which finished 13th in each of the last two NCAA Championships, was chosen to finish eighth this season by the publication. It picked Princeton, expected to be one of Columbia's chief rivals for the Heptagonal Ivy Championships, as one of five "Leading Challengers" for the top 10.
"It was nice to see that our team was predicted to finish eighth," Wood said. "With each passing day, our level of national recognition and respect grows. We certainly have had Monday, November 21 circled in red on each of our calendars for a very long time!"
