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Cross Country - 2004 PSAC Championships last updated
03/25/08
SCHEDULE
Men's 8K: 10:00 AM
Women's 6K: 11:00 AM
CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
KUTZTOWN TO HOST
2004 PSAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
KUTZTOWN, PA –
Kutztown University will host the 2004 Pennsylvania State Athletic
Conference (PSAC) Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship on
Saturday, October 30.
Action gets underway at 10:00 AM with the men’s 8,000-meter race,
followed at 11:00 AM with the women’s 6,000m race. Both races will
take place on Kutztown’s new north campus “farm courses.” Admission
is free, while parking and a championship program will be $5 per
car. Additional programs are $2 each.
MEN'S PREVIEW
In 2003, Lock Haven ended Edinboro’s run of 11 straight
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country
Championship titles. This year, the two teams, along with
Shippensburg, should duke it out for the league crown once again.
Lock Haven enters the race ranked No. 1 in the East
Region and No. 8 in the country. The Bald Eagles return five All-PSAC
runners from last season, including individual champion Chris
Cowan. Cowan won the Maroon & Gold Invitational at
Kutztown earlier this year. Ryan Blood, seventh a year ago,
has wins at the Bucknell Opener and the Gulden Invitational at
Bucknell, and was the top Division II finisher at the Penn State
National Open. Joe Wiegner was sixth last season at the PSAC
Championships and finished second at both the Bucknell Opener and
the Maroon & Gold Invitational. In 2003, Billy Buckenmeyer
placed 12th at the PSAC meet, while Aaron Benson went 13th.
The team has won three of its four scored meets this season.
Shippensburg is currently ranked second in the region
and 19th in Division II. John Somers is the lone returning
all-conference finisher, after finishing 14th last year. At the
Tidewater Classic in Salisbury, MD, Allen Pryde, Somers
and Dan Helfrick swept first thru third place, respectively.
Pryde should be considered one of the favorites on the men’s
side to compete for the individual crown.
Edinboro is the No. 3 squad in the East and ranks 21st
in the nation. The Fighting Scots are led by Ryan Coon, who
placed second at the PSAC Championships last year. This year,
Coon was the top Division II finisher at the Wisconsin-Parkside
Invitational. Teammate Mark Hyrvniak placed ninth last year
in the PSAC. Edinboro won the Daniel Walker Invitational at Buffalo
State and was third at Wisconsin-Parkside. Jimmy Ansberry has
also emerged as one of the top runners in the PSAC and gives the
Fighting Scots a dangerous trio. He was sixth at the Daniel Walker
Invite.
Last year’s eighth-place finisher, Justin Shepherd,
leads the Bloomsburg Huskies, ranked fourth in the East. He had the
individual win at the Slippery Rock Quad, helping the men’s team win
the meet. Michael Espinosa also has a win on the season,
crossing the line first at the Husky Invitational.
Running on their home course could help propel the
Kutztown men up the standings. The team has three second place
finishes on the season – the Maroon & Gold Invitational, the
Tidewater Classic and the DeSales Invitational. The team, made up
entirely of freshmen and sophomores, is led by Keith Gruchacz.
Gruchacz has four top-10 finishes in five races this season.
Gerard Ganey also has a pair of top-10 finishes this season.
The Golden Bears are currently rated fifth in the East Region.
Mansfield and Millersville also return All-PSAC
runners. Chris Cummings led the Mounties by placing third at
PSACs last year. He was second at Brockport in 2004 and placed third
at the Tidewater Classic. The Marauders' Justin Veisz
finished 11th in 2003. He has teamed with Jason White to give
Millersville a formidable one-two punch.
Several individuals will challenge for the top spots.
Iuri Pinto of East Stroudsburg is perhaps the top freshman in
the conference. He was third at DeSales and fourth at the LaSalle
Invitational this season. IUP’s Jorge Medina won the Slippery
Rock Invitational this season and also earned a fifth place at the
Daniel Walker race.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
The Edinboro Fighting Scots will be seeking their
seventh consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)
Women’s Cross Country Championship after holding off Indiana (PA) to
pick up a 12-point victory last season. The Fighting Scots are once
again ranked on top of the East Regional rankings and hold the
fourth spot in the national rankings heading into this year’s
championship.
A trio of All-PSAC runners returns for Edinboro.
Kelly Richards placed ninth a year ago, after placing third in
2002. Lisa Gallagher and Heather Wilmoth placed 11th
and 12th last year. Julie Nemergut was an all-conference
selection two years ago and placed second in a 268 runner field
earlier this season to lead Edinboro to the team title at the
Wisconsin-Parkside Invitational. She should be in contention for the
individual crown.
Edinboro’s top competition should come from Bloomsburg,
Kutztown and Slippery Rock.
The Huskies check in at No. 23 in the nation and No. 2 in the
region. Freshman Amber Hackenburg recently took the
individual title at the Bloomsburg Invitational, winning by 27
seconds and helping Bloomsburg capture the team title. She also
picked up an individual win at the Slippery Rock Quad. Amanda
Pisano was injured for the 2003 PSAC championship, but was 12th
in 2002. She was the top Division II finisher at the Penn State
Spiked Shoe Invitational earlier this year, placing 20th.
Kutztown, which was ranked as high as No. 24 in the
country this season, will look to defend its home course. Molly
Lare will lead the attack, with an individual win at the Maroon
& Gold Invitational. She was also the top Division II finisher at
the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh. She finished seventh at the
PSACs in 2003. Danielle Mousley has returned from a redshirt
season to reclaim her spot as one of KU’s top runners. As a team,
the Golden Bears have wins at the Maroon & Gold Invitational and the
Tidewater Classic in Salisbury, MD.
Slippery Rock, fourth in the East, features a balanced
team with three different runners taking the best finish for the
Rock at meets this season. The team has more than enough depth to be
a contender in the team standings.
Indiana (PA) could make noise despite being ranked just
sixth in the region. The team features last year’s champion,
Mindy Sawtelle and Nicole Blaesser, who finished sixth.
Sawtelle has won three races this year, the Daniel Walker
Invitational (Buffalo, NY), the Gulden Invitational (Lewisburg, PA),
and the Slippery Rock Invitational.
Mansfield also returns a pair of All-PSAC runners.
Rachel Hall placed eighth, with Charity Learn finishing
10th. Learn edged out KU’s Lare earlier this season for the
win at the Tidewater Classic and also picked up a win at Brockport.
Hall was third at the Tidewater Classic.
A number of individuals will have their eyes on the
individual title this season. Vanessa Andes of East
Stroudsburg was last year’s runner-up, and has won meets at DeSales
and LaSalle this season. Melissa Terwilliger finished third
last season for Clarion. She has faced tough competition in 2004,
with the Golden Eagles running in four Division I meets.
Shippensburg and Lock Haven also return All-PSAC runners from 2003.
Lindsay Govern placed seventh among Division II runners at
the Paul Short run, and was fourth at the Tidewater Classic. She was
14th last season at the PSAC meet. Lock Haven’s Kat Davey
placed 15th last year at the PSACs. She was second at the Maroon &
Gold Invitational this year. Jennifer Reekie from Cal has had
several good races and could make some noise in the individual
standings.
MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
LOCK HAVEN'S BLOOD & COWAN LEAD EAGLES TO
TEAM TITLE
KUTZTOWN,
PA --
Lock Haven's Ryan Blood and Chris Cowan finished first
and second, respectively, as Lock Haven won its second-straight PSAC
Men's Cross Country
Championship. Blood completed the 8k
course in 25:36 for the individual title, besting his teammate - and
last year's champ - Cowan, by ten seconds.
The Bald Eagles placed five runners in the top nine to cruise to the
win with just 27 points. Billy Buckenmeyer placed
seventh in 26:08 and Joe Weigner edged out Greg Davis
by one second for eighth, running a 26:12. Shawn Moore
finished 14th to earn a spot on the All-PSAC team. His time
was 26:33.
Edinboro placed second as a team in the 14 school field, with 62
points. Ryan Coon finished third in 25:56 and Jim Ansberry was fourth in 25:58.
Dan Field also earned all-conference honors by finishing in 13th
place with a time of 26:29.
Jorge Medina of IUP finished fifth with his time of 26:02.
Rounding out the top ten were Mansfield's Chris Cummings, who
was sixth in 26:04, and Bloomsburg's Justin Shepherd, who was
10th after running a 26:15.
Joining those ten on the All-PSAC team were Shippensburg's Dan
Helfrick (11th, 26:26), ESU's Iuri Pinto (12th, 26:29),
Field, Moore, and John Somers (15th, 26:35) of
Shippensburg.
In third place in the team scoring was Shippensburg, with 83 points.
Bloomsburg tallied 156 points for fourth place, followed by IUP in
fifth with 174.
Kutztown finished sixth as a team, just two points behind Indiana
(PA). The Golden Bears had strong grouping, as the top five
finished within 35 seconds of one another. Keith Gruchacz
led KU with a 27th place finish in 27:06. Dan Wilde's
27:16 put him in 33rd place. With a time of 27:17,
Pat Coyne was 35th. Joe Haughey ran a 27:29, good
for 39th and Gerard Ganey placed 42nd in 27:38.
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
EDINBORO RUNS AWAY WITH WOMEN'S CROWN
KUTZTOWN, PA -- Julie Nemergut won the PSAC Championships, helping propel
Edinboro to its seventh straight PSAC championship. The
Fighting Scots accumulated just 26 points, 88 ahead of the second
place team from Slippery Rock.
Nemergut dominated the 6K run, defeating Vanessa Andes
of East Stroudsburg by 26 seconds, with a time of 22:06.
Edinboro placed six runners on the All-PSAC team. One second
separated fourth through sixth places. Kelly Richards was
fourth in 23:02, Rachael Lanzel finished fifth in the same
time and Heather Wilmoth was just one second behind in sixth
place. Lindsay Roberts landed in 10th place overall
with a 23:29 and Lisa Gallagher was 13th in 23:41.
Andes was second overall in 22:32. Defending champion
Mindy Sawtelle of Indiana (PA) placed third with a time of
22:50. Charity Learn of Mansfield clocked a 23:06 for
seventh place. Slippery Rock's Holly Whoolery finished ninth
in 23:22.
Also
earning all-conference accolades were Amber Hackenberg (11th,
23:30) of Bloomsburg, Nicole Blaesser (12th, 23:33) of IUP,
KU's Molly Lare (14th, 23:46) and Lindsay Govern
(15th, 23:53) of Shippensburg.
After
Edinboro, there was a three-way fight for second. Slippery
Rock ended the meet with 114 points, just four ahead of the Golden
Bears and five in front of IUP. KU was third,
Indiana (PA) fourth and Clarion rounded out the top five with 136
points.
For the Golden Bears, Lare's 14th place led the way.
The Golden Bears' next three runners finished consecutively.
Danielle Mousley finished 21st in 24:25, Madonna Patterson
was 22nd in 24:28 and Chelsea Thomas turned in a 24:29 for
23rd. Desiree Bower completed the scoring for Kutztown
with a 25:21.
PHOTOS
Edinboro women accept championship trophy |
Lock
Haven men accept championship trophy |
2004
Women's All-PSAC team |
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