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Bison Cross Country Teams Perform Well at Mount St. Mary's
Sept. 22, 2001
EMMITSBURG, Md. - Competing for the first time in two weeks, the Bucknell University men's and women's cross country teams showed little rust this afternoon at the Mount St. Mary's Invitational. The men's team placed all of their top five runners in the top 10 to capture the team title with 31 points. On the women's side, the Bison placed second among 13 teams with 76 points, and were defeated by only Georgetown University, a perennial cross-country power. Junior Greg Costello was the top finisher for the men's team, which defeated second-place finisher St. Francis (Pa.) by 52 points. Costello placed third in the 152-man field, traversing the five-mile course in a season-best 25:56.00, just 13 behind winner Nickie Peters of Coppin State. After sitting out the team's first meet, graduate student Kevin Weatherill was impressive in his 2001 debut, placing fifth in 26:09.20. Crossing the finish line just two seconds behind Weatherill in sixth place was senior Travis Etters, who had a breakthrough race for the Bison. Etters ran a 26:14.20, his fastest time since his freshman year and nearly a full minute faster than he ran two weeks ago at Bucknell's Gulden Duals. Rounding out the team scoring for the men's team was senior P.J. Ward, who took seventh place in 26:18.40, and junior Lou Palma, the ninth place finisher in 26:19.80. Both Ward and Palma also ran season-best times for the Bison. "I thought we showed a tremendous amount of depth today," said Bucknell head coach Kevin Donner. "The men's team ran a very controlled and aggressive race, which shows we're ready for the second half of the season."
The women's team faced a formidable foe in Georgetown University, a team that placed fifth in the nation last season. The Bison finished 61 points behind the Hoyas for the team title, but were 31 points in front of their nearest competitor, American University.
Junior Theresa Dennis led the women's team, taking 11th place out of 151 runners in 18:59.00. Senior Christina Crowe was next for the Bison, scaling the 3.1 mile course in 19:03.40, good for 12th place. Other Bison placing in the top five and figuring into the team scoring were senior Kelly McConnell (16th, 19:12.40), senior Kristin Ferrell (17th, 19:14.20) and freshman Katie Bishop (31st, 19:56.80). All of the top five finishers for the women's team ran season-best times. "Georgetown has a very good team, but our women did not react well when Georgetown made its move in the middle of the race," said Donner. "However, we did finish a very respectable second, which should prepare us for the second part of the season." Bucknell will return to action next Saturday when it's "B" teams will compete at the Lock Haven Invitational with races beginning at 11 a.m.
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