Nov. 24, 2003

WATERLOO, Iowa - The Providence College men's and women's cross country teams continued their run of success at the NCAA Championship on Monday, November 24 in Waterloo, Iowa. The women's team, finished third overall as junior Kim Smith (Auckland, New Zealand) ran to a second-place individual finish in a time of 19:42. The men's team placed 24th overall behind junior Dylan Wykes (Kingston, Ontario) who led PC with a 37th-place individual finish (30:22).

On the women's side, Providence finished third as a team with 222 points. Smith and junior Mary Cullen (Sligo, Ireland) earned All-America honors for their individual performances in the 6K event. Smith's second-place individual finish matches a Providence College all-time best performance for the Friar women at the NCAA's. Amy Rudolph, a 1995 graduate of Providence, finished second for the Friars at the NCAA Championships in 1994 and Marie McMahon, a 1998 graduate, finished second in 1996. Smith was 12 seconds behind individual winner, Shalene Flanagan of North Carolina (19:30).

Cullen also finished in the top-10 for the Friars and earned All-America recognition with a fifth-place finish in a time of 19:53. With Smith and Cullen each finishing in the top-10, it marks just the third time in PC history that two runners finished in the top-10 at the NCAA's in the same year. Also scoring for Providence was junior Deirdre Byrne of Avoca, Ireland (41st - 20:55), sophomore Fiona Crombie of Christchurch, New Zealand (53rd - 21:04) and senior Lisa Cappello of Lockport, N.Y. (121st - 21:34). The Friars entered the 2003 NCAA Championships with a 8th-place ranking in the nation. The Friars have competed in 15-straight NCAA Cross Country Championships, and their third-place team finish in 2003 marks the third-best finish all-time for the program. Providence won the national title as a team in 1995 and finished second overall in 1990.

"We were ranked eighth in the nation coming into the championship and we finished third," Providence Head Coach Ray Treacy said. "It was a fantastic finish. It was as good of a finish as we could have ever hoped for. I'm delighted with our performance today."

Stanford won the overall team title for the women with 128 points, while Brigham Young University finished second in the team standings with 128 points. Providence rounded out the top-three teams, followed by Michigan (fourth - 232 points) and Colorado (fifth - 269 points).

On the men's side, Providence finished 24th overall (550 points) in a field that was comprised of 31 teams. Wykes led the Friars with a 37th-place finish in a time of 30:22. Junior Patrick Moulton (Pelham, N.H.) finished 85th overall (30:58). Also scoring for Providence was Tim Curran of Northboro, Mass., who finished 108th (31:08), sophomore Joe Dionne of Oshawa, Ontario who finished 157th (31:41) and senior Jamie Carmichael of Windsor, Vt. who finished 163rd (31:47).

"We (the men's team) had hoped to finish in the top-20," said Treacy. "The guys were not as fresh as they were last week, when they ran a great race at the NCAA Regionals."

Stanford was the decisive winner of the men's team title, finishing first overall with 24 points. Wisconsin finished second (174 points) and Northern Arizona rounded out the top-three team with a third-place finish (189). Dathan Ritzenhein (University of Colorado) won the men's individual crown. He led the field with a time of 29:14.

NCAA Cross Country Championship - Men's and Women's Results - Providence College
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