Local harriers shining in college competition

Area distance runners distinguished themselves recently at their respective college conference meets.

Princeton University senior Ashley Higginson made her final Heptagonal (Ivy League) Cross Country Championships a memorable meet by going out as a member of the winning team.

The Tigers never lost the Heptagonal cross country meet during Higginson’s fouryear career, as they extended their win streak to five straight team titles. This year, Princeton defeated Columbia, 33-50.

The meet was held at historic Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., on Oct. 30.

Higginson, who is one of the team’s cocaptains, finished fourth after touring the 5,000-meter course in 17:27, a personal best time. The Colts Neck High School standout earned All-Ivy League honors for that performance.

Higginson’s teammate, Alex Banfich, won the race and became the second runner in Heptagonal history to dip below 17:00, with her time of 16:58.

Next up for the Tigers, who are ranked No. 19 in the country, is the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 13 at Penn State University.

Earlier this season at the Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., Higginson finished eighth in the 6K race held on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course that will host the NCAA Division I championships on Nov. 22.

At the Nov. 13 regional meet, Higginson will race against one of her high school rivals, former Jackson Memorial High School standout Amanda Marino, who is now one of the top runners on the nation’s No. 1 ranked team, Villanova University.

Marino, who is a senior, helped Villanova win its third consecutive Big East Conference team title on Oct. 30 in Jamesville, N.Y.

The Wildcats won the team title with 26 points, led by the one-two finish of Sheila Reid and Marino, who ran the hilly 6K course in 20:31.9 and 20:35.2, respectively. Both women were First Team All-Big East selections.

Marino has enjoyed an outstanding career atVillanova, earning cross countryAll-American honors twice (2008 and 2009). Last year she led the Wildcats to the national championship as she finished 11th in the Division I finals.

Across the country another former Colts Neck High School runner, Allison Linnell, is running for the University of Washington, which is ranked No. 8 in the country.

Linnell finished 60th at the Pac-10 Championships which were hosted by Washington in Seattle on Oct. 30. The Huskies tied for third place in the team standings.

Last fall, Linnell helped the Huskies win the Pac-10 team title and finish third at the NCAA Championships. She is a redshirt sophomore.

The Huskies will run in the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 13 in Springfield, Ore.

In NCAA Division II competition, Howell’s Lindsay Lambert is shining at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania.

Lambert is trying to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships this fall after finishing 12th in the Atlantic Region last year. The Division II Atlantic Region Championships will be held on Nov. 20 in Raleigh, N.C.

Lambert, who is a junior, was recently named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week after she won the Lock Haven University River Run in a time of 21:26.74 (6K). The victory was her first collegiate win.

In Madison, Wisc., on Oct. 31, yet another Colts Neck High School standout, Craig Forys, was earning All-Big 10 honors for the third time in his career.

Forys, a redshirt junior at the University of Michigan, where he is the team captain, finished 10th at the Big 10 Conference Championships, running the second best 8K, 23:57.6, of his career. The Wolverines finished eighth in the team standings.

This is the second time Forys has earned All-Big 10 Second Team honors. He was a first team selection in 2007 as a freshman, when he finished seventh in the conference championships.

Next up for Michigan is the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Nov. 13 in Rochester, Mich. Forys was an All-Region pick in 2008 when he finished 11th in the race.