Vol. 24, No. 9	November 13, 1998

ATHLETICS: Columbia Sets School Records at Heps

MIKE GRANT WINS MEN'S EVENT; KARA KERR IS 1ST COLUMBIA WOMAN ON ALL-IVY FIRST TEAM

By Todd Kennedy

Lion cross-country runners capped a sterling fall racing season with impressive results, both individual and collective, at the Heptagonal Championships on Sat., Oct. 31.

Senior Mike Grant, of Little Falls, N.J., became the first Columbia runner in the event's 58-year-history to place first. He covered the 5-mile course at The Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park in 24:40.3-the meet's fastest winning time since 1991-to lead Columbia to third place of nine teams. The Lions' 69 points were outdone only by Princeton's 45 and Dartmouth's 62.

Grant's time was the second-fastest ever by a Columbia athlete at the Lions' home course in Van Cortlandt Park and earned him first-team All-Ivy honors for the second straight year. He was joined on the All-Ivy first team by classmate Tom Kloos, of Oceanside, Calif.

Junior Kara Kerr, of Bantam, Conn., placed third at Heps, becoming the first Columbia woman runner to earn a spot on the All-Ivy first team. She covered the 5,000-meter course at Van Cortlandt Park in 17:57.1 to lead Columbia to fifth place, the team's best finish in the 22-year history of the women's race at Heps.

Kerr now owns the second-fastest Columbia time at the Van Cortlandt Park course. The Heptagonal Championships includes the eight Ivy League schools plus Navy.

LION UPDATE

Varsity Football (3-5 overall, 2-3 Ivy League): Snapped the season's four-game losing streak by beating Dartmouth 24-14. The win was the first against the Big Green since 1971 and the first in Hanover since 1946.

W. Soccer (11-2-4, 3-2-2): Tied Dartmouth, the nation's seventh ranked team, 0-0. The Light Blue thus concluded its first winning Ivy campaign by receiving an invitation to the ECAC post-season tournament.

M. Soccer (5-7-3, 2-2-2): Lost to the Big Green 2-1. The Light Blue's Ivy season ends this weekend against Cornell.

Field Hockey (4-13, 0-7): Fell to Dartmouth 4-0.

J.V. Football (4-0): Remains undefeated, having crushed Marist 28-6 on Nov. 1. Lion standouts were Austin, Espy, McCall and Sozio.

Volleyball (5-21, 0-7): Played in the Yale Classic last weekend and was beaten by Bucknell, Navy and Colgate.