Race Results
GENESEO, NY (November 14, 2009) – Not only did the Vassar women’s cross country team finish one spot higher in today’s NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Cross Country Champion 6000 meter race at Letchworth State Park, the Brewers cumulative time was four minutes better than the effort produced in 2006, the last time Vassar ran the course.
Behind the scoring of five runners that all placed among the top 95, Vassar finished 12th out of 33 teams (311 points) in a field that featured 239 runners. Most impressively, the Brewers finished ahead of top competitors Hamilton, Rochester Institute of Technology and Oneonta. Led by the first place finish of junior Wendy Pavlus (21:22), Liberty League power St. Lawrence took the team title with 43 points.
“We had a lot of women that ran very strong races today,” said head coach James McCowan. “We moved up a place and dramatically improved our cumulative time. That goes to show you how competitive the Atlantic Region is, but moreover, how our program is headed in the right direction.
Sophomore
Johanna Spangler led the Brewers with a 21st place showing (22:55), that will be roughly ten seconds off a NCAA Division III Championships qualifying time. “Johanna ran a gutsy race and was in eighth place for much of the race but lost ground in the last mile,” said McCowan. “Time and time again Johanna has shown she is one of the top runners in the region and has a promising career ahead.”
Freshman
Kelly Holmes concluded her sensational first season with a 45th place finish (23:34) and was one of the top 12 freshmen finishers in the race.
Seniors
Mera McGrew and
Alyssa Charney finished third and fourth for Vassar, placing 72nd and 82nd overall with 24:03 and 24:17 times. “Alyssa had a huge breakout race, running 1:30 faster than her previous race here,” said McCowan. Junior
Zoe Carpenter was Vassar’s final scoring runner, placing 91st overall with a 24:36 time. Freshman
Kristine Olson and senior captain
Nina Huang rounded out Vassar’s seven runner team, finishing in 97th and 121st with 24:40 and 25:09 times.
“There were a lot of promising signs today,” said McCowan. “Our race plan was to be relaxed and run into a good overall position. We weren’t far out of the top 10, which is always our goal heading into a race of this nature.”