Scranton Women; Susquehanna Men Run Home With Landmark Cross Country Titles
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of Scranton
women’s team became the third different Landmark
Women’s Cross Country Champions in as many seasons, while the
Susquehanna University men’s cross country squad maintained
its grip on the title claiming its third Landmark Men’s Cross
Country Championship in as many seasons at the 2009 Landmark Cross
Country Championships held Saturday in Washington, D.C. The meet
was hosted by The Catholic University of America and took place on
the grounds of the United States Soldiers and Airman’s
Home.
After finishing no better than third in the previous two
Landmark meets, Scranton got a balanced finish with four runners in
the top-8 and five runners in the top-16 to earn 41 points.
Defending champion Susquehanna was second with 48, while 2007
champion Juniata College was third with 82. Catholic placed fourth
with 86 points, Moravian College claimed the fifth spot with 109
while Goucher College and Drew University rounded out the finishes
with 161 and 185 points respectively. The United States Merchant
Marine Academy had four runners compete in the race and did not
have a team score. Click
here for highlights of the women's race.
Susquehanna’s Casey Hess earned Female Outstanding Performer
honors as she crossed the line first in the women’s race,
posting a time of 23:34.98 after finishing as the runner-up last
season. Scanton’s top finisher was Stephanie Huth in fourth
position, but the Royals then had the sixth, seventh and
eighth-place performers to help earn the team title.
Scranton’s Kathleen Druther placed seventh and earned Female
Newcomer of the Year Honors, while Scranton also was named the
Female Coaching Staff of the Year, led by Head Coach Bill
Burke.
Rounding out the top-five in the women’s race were
Juniata’s Laura Rupprecht in second, two-time defending
champion Alycia Woodruff of Susquehanna in third and
Moravian’s Cadee Rockwell in fifth place behind Huth.
On the men’s side Susquehanna rolled to its third team title
in three years, placing all five of its point scorers in the top-9
to earn 24 points for the comfortable win. Moravian placed second
behind the Crusaders with 76 points, while Juniata captured third
place with 83. Scranton and USMMA were fourth and fifth with 101
and127 points respectively. Goucher came home in sixth with 159
points, Drew was seventh with 185 and 203 points earned Catholic
eighth place. Click here for
highlights of the men's race.
While the Susquehanna team captured its third title, the same was
true for Susquehanna senior Paul Thistle who won the race for the
third-straight year to claim his third Male Outstanding Performer
award. The senior ran a time of 26:39 to finish 17 seconds ahead of
Chris Wasnetsky from Scranton who was second in the race for the
third time. Susquehanna then added the third-place finish from Luke
Trama, the fifth-place effort from David Haklar, and the sixth and
ninth-place finishers to claim the win. The 10th-place finisher was
also from Susquehanna, as Ian Quinlan earned that spot to earn Male
Newcomer of the Year honors. Susquehanna Head Coach Marty Owens and
his staff were also picked as the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Also placing in the top-five was Juniata’s Matthew Bailey
who came across the line in fourth place.
Landmark runners will now move on to the NCAA Regionals, held
November 14 at various campuses, where they will look to earn high
team and individual finishes and hope to qualify for the NCAA
Championships. The Landmark sent three individual runners to the
NCAA Championships last season.
