Nov. 24, 1997
Women Finish 6th, Men 16th at NCAA Championships
Sarah Dupre and Ben Noad Capture All-America Honors
GREENVILLE, South Carolina--Junior Sarah Dupre (Kingston, Ontario) and junior Ben Noad (Bristol, England) took All-America honors as they helped their respective cross country teams to sixth and 16th place finishes at the 1997 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Greenville, South Carolina. Providence was just one of 11 schools to have both its men's and women's teams running for the national championship.
Dupre led the PC women to their ninth consecutive top ten finish in NCAA Championships by finishing 12th overall, covering the Furman University Golf Course's 5K course in a time of 17:00 minutes. She was followed by Rachel Hixson (Fr., Media, Pa.) who finished 44th in a time of 17:30. Maria McCambridge (Sr., Dublin, Ireland) was 54th in 17:37; Gladys Ganiel (Jr., Harrington, Me.) finished strong to take 93rd in a time of 17:55 and Dana Ostrander (So., Ballston Lake, N.Y.) closed out the Friars' scorers in 106th place in a time of 18:03. Stephanie O'Reilly (Fr., Wicklow, Ireland) was 142nd in a time of 18:33 and Yvonne O'Donnell (Sr., Mahopac, N.Y.) finished 172nd in with a time of 19:17.
Brigham Young University won the team title with 100 points. Stanford (102), Colorado (178), Dartmouth (205) and Wisconsin (227) finished in front of the sixth place Friars (230). Michigan, Oregon, Boston College and Georgetown rounded out the Top 10. Individually, Villanova's Carrie Tollefson won the race in a time of 16:29.
PC Coach Ray Treacy was pleased with his team's performance. "Sarah really came through for us," explained Treacy. He continued, "She was further back after the first mile than we had hoped. She really stuck with it. Rachel (Hixson) ran well and so did Maria (McCambridge) coming back from an injury. Gladys (Ganiel) held her own most of the race and was passing people at the end. I'm very happy with the progress that our women's team made this year."
In the men's 10 kilometer race, Ben Noad led the Friars to a 16th place finish, their best since an eighth place finish in 1995. Noad covered the course in 30:02 for an 18th place finish. Zack Ventress (Jr. Spokane, Wash.) was 90th in a time of 31:16; Paul McNamara (Sr., Galway, Ireland) was 107th (31:33); Rick Bush (Jr., Clifton Park, N.Y.) was 118th (31:38) and Carl Mauro (Jr., Hornell, N.Y.) rounded out the scorers with a 137th place finish (31:58). The Friars other two runners, Keith Kelly (So., Drogheda, Ireland) and Larry Morrissey (So., Waterford, Ireland) finished 154 (32:25) and 166th (32:56) respectively.
Teamwise, the Friars recorded 375 points. Stanford was first with 53 points and was followed by Arkansas (56), Colorado (108), Michigan (116) and Wisconsin (201) rounded out the top five. PC was second among BIG EAST teams with only Notre Dame (12th place - 309 points) finishing ahead of the Friars.
Treacy was pleased with the way the men ran. "We were one runner away from being in the Top 12," said Treacy. "I'm satisfied our finish. Ben Noad had a great race. I'm proud we made it - not many schools here had two teams running."
MEN'S RESULTS
Team Results
1. Stanford 53
2. Arkansas 56
3. Colorado 108
4. Michigan 116
5. Wisconsin 201
6. No. Carolina State 214
7. Michigan State 257
8. Oregon 266
9. William and Mary 274
10. Weber State 278
11. Nebraska 294
12. Notre Dame 309
13. Iona College 340
14. Oklahoma State 346
15. Iowa State 357
16. PROVIDENCE 375
17. Princeton 379
18. Minnesota 424
19. Alabama 433
20. Texas - San Antonio 540
21. Navy 584
22. Florida 600
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. Mebrahtom Keflezighi, UCLA 28:54
2. Kevin Sullivan, Michigan 29:01
3. Brnard Lagat, Washington St. 29:05
4. Adam Goucher, Colorado 29:10
5. Ryan Wilson, Arkansas 29:13
6. Cleophas Boor, Nebraska 29:22
7. Abdi Abdirahman, Arizona 29:26
8. Nathan Nutter, Stanford 29:34
9. Sean Kaley, Arkansas 29:39
10. Brad Hauser, Stanford 29:42
PC FINISHERS
18. Ben Noad, PC 30:02
90. Zack Ventress, PC 31:16
107. Paul McNamara, PC 31:33
118. Rick Bush, PC 31:28
137. Carl Mauro, PC 31:58
154. Keith Kelly, PC 32:25
166. Larry Morrissey, PC 32.56
