ITHACA, N.Y. -- Coming off three straight top-three podium finishes at the Ivy League championships, more commonly known as the Heptagonal Championships, the men's cross-country team is firmly entrenched as a perennial contender for the Heps cross-country title. In 2010, the men's harriers are poised to once again contend for a conference crown and in the process become the first Cornell squad since 1957 to finish in the top three four years in a row.

The men's squad features a potent mix of upperclass and underclass talent. Leading the way for the men will be a very talented and accomplished senior class. The squad will be led by NCAA qualifiers Adrien Dannemiller and Nate Edelman and captain Matt De Silva. Edelman comes into the year after enjoying the finest junior campaign of a Cornell harrier since Bruce Hyde captured the NCAA regional crown in 2004. A 14:04 performer in the 5000, Edelman finished fourth at Heps last year and qualified for NCAAs, where he was the second Ivy league finisher and a top-100 performer.

Dannemiller, an NCAA qualifier in the steeplechase with a PR of 8:47.80 (#2 all-time at Cornell), returns to the cross-country fields after missing last year to study abroad in Switzerland. During his sophomore year, Dannemiller proved to be one of the top young talents in the league as he was second team All-Ivy at Heps. Since then, he's built on that reputation in track, as in addition to qualifying for NCAAs, Dannemiller has exhibited great range, scoring at events ranging in distance from 1,000 to 10,000 meters.

De Silva, who transferred to Cornell last year from Purdue, quickly earned the respect of his teammates both on and off the competition field as he garnered second team All-Ivy honors last year at Heps before being elected team captain for the 2010 season.

Two other seniors in Drew Hart and Max Kasak also likely will be significant players for the Big Red in 2010. Hart comes into the cross-country season after a breakout track season where he ran 30:08.25 for 10,000 meters. Kasak was in the Red's top seven at both Heps and regionals last year.

“On paper, as an overall group, this may be the best senior class we've had since I've been here. But the thing that really excites me about our seniors is that they all seemingly have a lot left to prove," said men's distance coach Robert Johnson. "For example, Adrien missed the whole season last year for us and then just missed going to NCAAs for a second straight year in track. Nate struggled with mono last spring and had a very mediocre track season and Matt missed all of track with a stress fracture. There's nothing that a coach likes more than having talented and motivated seniors.”

If the Big Red is to win its first Heps title in cross-country since 1993, the squad's precocious sophomore class will undoubtedly play a key role in helping the team's cause. Last year, the class came in heralded as arguably the greatest distance freshman class in Cornell history and the class largely lived up to the hype.

Last year, four then-freshmen - Brett Kelly (30:06.21 for 10,000), Matt McCullough (14:35.25 for 5,000), Robert Micikas (14:31.97 for 5,000) and Kevin Johnson (14:29.33/30:10.78) - all ran faster at 5,000 or 10,000 than any other freshman during coach Johnson's eight-year tenure at Cornell. Kelly was a consistent top-five guy for the Big Red last year and in track, Johnson was the first Cornell freshman to score in the Heps 5,000 or 10,000 in 19 years.

Additionally, sophomores Nick Wade, who set school records indoors at 800 and 1,000 as a freshman, and Andy Arnold (4:09 indoor mile as a freshman) have decided to throw their hats into the cross-country ring and try to help the squad. Their classmate, Adam Trofa, also enjoyed a strong freshman year as he made the Heps cross-country squad and was an IC4A qualifier in the 10,000 (31:07.25) in track.

“The sophomore class certainly has the potential to accomplish as much as any group that's come through Cornell, but it's hard to count on young guys to get the job done in the long distances,” said Johnson. “Those guys are a lot of fun to work with but they also are a bit impatient, and patience is a key thing distance runners need to learn. It's going to be fun to see if they can take a step forward this fall.”

In terms of freshmen, Wisconsin state cross-country runner-up Gabe Heck is the top incomer. On the track, he ran a 9:03 full two mile. Other newcomers include 9:09 performer Dave Forward of New Jersey, Andrew  Herring of Massachusetts, who was seventh in the Massachusetts state meet last fall, and Max Groves of Ballston Spa, NY.

The junior class includes Chandler Kemp, who is an IC4A qualifier in track (31:01.30 for 10,000).

In terms of Ivy League competition, coming out on top isn't going be easy for the Big Red, as the first-place and second-place teams from last year in Columbia and Princeton return their entire top fives from a year ago.

“The league is very strong this year. Princeton in my mind is a top-15 team nationally on paper and Columbia won last year and has everyone back,” said Johnson. “But worrying about other teams is counterproductive and not something we are going to spend any time on. We want to take care of our own business, learn to run together as a group and then simply run as fast as we can come the end of October and beginning of November. We're very excited about this year and the future.”