Women’s Cross Country A Solid Fourth at Paul Short Invitational

Julia Cathcart Races to an Impressive Fifth

09/25/04 5:35PM

BETHLEHEM, PA - Defending CAA Champion William and Mary women’s cross country beat out several nationally ranked teams this Saturday in racing to fourth place at the elite Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh. The College, unranked but recovering votes in the latest FinishLynx poll, tallied 135 points, outpacing fifth-place No. 15 Georgetown (156) and seventh-place No. 27 Yale (225). No. 19 Tennessee won the meet with 53 points ahead of No. 10 Villanova (87) and No. 13 Columbia (89). Auburn’s Angela Homan won the race with a time of 20:27.39.

Sophomore Julia Cathcart (Starkville, MS) propelled the Tribe to its strong showing with her impressive fifth-place performance, as the 2003 CAA Co-Rookie of the Year clocked 20:52.70 for the 6,000m race. Fellow sophomore Meghan Bishop (Blue Bell, PA), who shared Rookie of the Year honors with Cathcart in 2003, was the Tribe’s second runner with a solid 19th overall at 21:28.10. Senior Jackie Kosakowski (Sauquoit, NY) was just a few ticks behind in 22nd with a 21:30.50 while junior Kristyn Shiring (Stafford, VA) paced a 21:53.97 for 33rd. Junior Karen Pulliam (North Potomac, MD) finished in 56th while fellow junior Lauren Heron (Manlius, NY) came home in 79th. Freshman Kaitlin Hurley (Portland, OR) rounded out the Tribe runners in the college invitational race in 88th place in the field of 241 runners.

In the open race, senior Becca Velarde (Albuquerque, NM) paced the Tribe with a great effort as the second collegiate runner (fifth overall) with her time of 22:19.59, which would have made her the sixth Tribe runner in the college invitational race. Junior Laura Buchanan (Glenview, IL) also raced to a solid showing in ninth while senior Tracy Williams (Oak Hill, VA) took 12th and sophomore Melle Patrick (Manama, Bahrain) finished 17th. Freshman Allie Lewis (Roanoke, VA) placed 21st to round out the Tribe runners scoring top-25 finishes.

2003 CAA Coach of the Year Pat Van Rossum was pleased but his team’s performance, but also realized his squad had to potential to improve even more. “It was a very solid performance," Van Rossum said. “Cathcart had a really nice effort that put her amongst the best runners in the nation. Our top four were very solid; they hung together and did a good job of working together. We need to run a little better to be a truly national-class team, but certainly it was a solid performance today towards that goal.”

The Tribe returns to action next Friday, October 1, at the Notre Dame Invitational.

Top-Five Teams - College Invitational
Place Team Points
1 Tennessee 53
2 Villanova 87
3 Columbia 89
4 William & Mary 135
5 Georgetown 156

Top Five Individuals – College Invitational
Place Individual Team Time
1 Angela Homan Auburn 20:27.39
2 Marina Muncan Villanova 20:33.44
3 Brooke Novak UT 20:43.13
4 Nicole Lee Georgetown 20:50.98
5 Julia Cathcart W&M 20:52.70

Other W&M Individuals -- College Invitational
Pl. Individual Team Time
19 Meghan Bishop W&M 21:28.10
22 Jackie Kosakowski W&M 21:30.50
33 Kristyn Shiring W&M 21:53.97
56 Karen Pulliam W&M 22:15.77
79 Lauren Heron W&M 22:42.11
88 Kaitlin Hurley W&M 22:48.40


Top Five Individuals – Open Race
Place Individual Team Time
1 Becki Wells Unattached 20:58.57
2 Colleen Kelly Unattached 21:26.28
3 Suzanne Andrews Princeton 22:01.94
4 Neely Spence Unattached 22:04.03
5 Becca Velarde W&M 22:19.59

Other W&M Individuals – Open Race
Place Individual Team Time
9 Laura Buchanan W&M 22:52.45
12 Tracy Williams W&M 22:58.89
17 Melle Patrick W&M 23:09.37
21 Allie Lewis W&M 23:17.01
26 Erin Masterson W&M 23:25.22
27 Taylor Barr W&M 23:28.19
28 Ruth Loyer W&M 23:30.43
29 Amy Maier W&M 23:30.88
35 Loren Cutright W&M 23:36.18
43 Christy Dannenberg W&M 23:45.33
47 Erin Prillaman W&M 23:49.30
61 Sarah Roessler W&M 24:09.43
65 Meredith Holaday W&M 24:17.62