Oct. 31, 1997

    Women Capture Third Consecutive BIG EAST Title

    Sarah Dupre
    Sarah Dupre finished fifth at the BIG EAST Championships to lead PC's women to their third consecutive conference title.
    NEW YORK - The Providence College men and women's cross country teams went into Friday's BIG EAST Championships looking to repeat 1996's double championship, a BIG EAST first. Following the women's 5,000 meter race at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, PC was halfway home. In the men's five mile race, Coach Ray Treacy's squad had to settle for second place.

    The PC women captured their third consecutive BIG EAST championship, edging out Georgetown by six points, 52-58. Boston College was third with 75 points, Notre Dame was fourth with 126 and West Virginia closed out the top five with 137 points.

    For the first time in five years, a PC women did not win the race as Villanova's Carrie Tollefson covered the 5,000 meter course in 16:54. Wildcat teammate, Carmen Duoma was second in 17:12. Leading the sixth-ranked Friars was junior Sarah Dupree (Kingston, Ontario) who finished fifth in a time of 17:26. Rachel Hixson (Fr., Media, Pa.) was PC's second runner home in eighth place with a time of 17:50. Dana Ostrander (So., Ballston Lake, N.Y.) was ninth in 17:52, Maria McCambridge (Sr., Dublin, Ireland) was 13th in 18:08 and junior Gladys Ganiel (Harrington, Maine) locked up the win with a 17th place finish in 18:15. PC's runners finished 5-8-9-13-17 while Georgetown's came in 3-7-12-14-22.

    On the men's side, Notre Dame captured its first-ever BIG EAST cross country title with 50 points. Providence, 12-time winners of the conference title, finished second for the fourth time since 1979 with 74 points. Georgetown was third with 82, West Virginia fourth with 102 and Boston College fifth with 117 points to round out the top five.

    Travis Landreth of Connecticut was the individual winner as he covered the five-mile course in 24:49. PC's Ben Noad (Jr., Bristol, Conn.) continued his strong season finishing second, 11 seconds off Landreth's pace in 25:00. Zack Ventress (Jr., Spokane, Wash.) was PC's second finisher in ninth with a time of 25:18. Keith Kelly (So., Drogheda, Ireland) was 14th in 25:32; Rick Bush (Jr., Clifton Park, N.Y.) was 18th in 25:40 and Larry Morrissey (So., Waterford, Ireland) closed out the Friar scorers with a 31st place finish in 26:00.

    For the race, Notre Dame's top five runners finished 4-5-10-11-20 while PC's top five came in 2-9-14-18-31.

    Next up for the Friars are the NCAA District Meets on November 15th at Franklin Park in Boston. The NCAA Championships will be held on November 24th at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

    BIG EAST Women's Cross Country Standings

    Van Cortlandt Park, New York (5,000 meters) 
     1. Providence      52
 2. Georgetown      58
 3. Boston College  75
 4. Notre Dame     126
 5. West Virginia  137
 6. Villanova      167
 7. Rutgers        197
 8. Syracuse       247
 9. Miami          248
10. Connecticut    271
11. St. John's     276
12. Pittsburgh     298
13. Seton Hall     318

TOP 10 Finishers:
 1. Carrie Tollefson, Villanova     16:54
 2. Carmen Duoma, Villanova         17:12
 3. Kate Landau, Georgetown         17:15
 4. Angela Graham, Boston Coll.     17:22
 5. Sarah Dupre, Providence         17:26
 6. Charity Wachera, West Virginia  17:43
 7. Kristen Gordon, Georgetown      17:49
 8. Rachel Hixson, Providence       17:50
 9. Dana Ostrander, Providence      17:52
10. Ann Baldelli, Boston College    17:59

PC Finishers:
13. Maria McCambridge, PC   18:08
17. Gladys Ganiel, PC       18:15
41. Stephanie O'Reilly, PC  19:12
54. Yvonne O'Donnell, PC    19:35
89. Kelly McCabe, PC        20:18
93. Samantha Samberg, PC    20:25

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