Oct. 10, 2011

Patriot League Cross Country Weekly Release (10.10.11)

Center Valley, Pa. — Only Bucknell and Holy Cross were in action this past weekend as most teams rested after the very competitive Paul Short Run.

Bucknell led the way, winning team titles on both the men’s and women’s side at the Father Bede Invitational at Saint Francis (Pa.) University. The men finished first out of four teams, with Robert Yamnicky finishing the 5K in 16:09. His first-place finish was the second of his career and first since winning the Bloomsburg Open as a freshman. For his efforts this past weekend, he was named the Patriot League Male Runner of the Week. His teammate, freshman Michael McGowan, finished eighth (16:36) and was named the Male Rookie of the Week.

Another freshman had a big week for the Bison as Betsy Edinger won the women’s individual title for Bucknell, finishing first in 19:42. She was named the Patriot League Female Rookie of the Week.
Senior Paige Sutherland led Holy Cross, finishing 18th at the New England Championships in 18:24 to be named the Patriot League Female Runner of the Week. She helped the Crusaders placed seventh out of 39 teams. Dan Altenau led the men’s team to a 23rd-place finish, completing the race in 25:56, 47th overall.

Seven teams will be in action next week as Bucknell, Colgate (women) and Lehigh travel to the Penn State National Invite, and American, Lafayette and Lehigh compete at the Leopard Invitational. The annual Army-Navy Star Meet will take place Friday with the Black Knights hosting this year’s meet.

Patriot League Notebook

Navy men, women lead League in Regional polls
As of Oct. 3, seven Patriot League teams, including four on the men’s side, are ranked in the top 15 in their respective regions. Navy and Lehigh are the only League teams to be ranked on both the men’s and women’s side.

Navy, the 2010 Patriot League champions, leads the men, staying at No. 5 in the Mid-Atlantic Region. American remained at No. 7 and Lehigh jumped three spots to No. 8.  Bucknell moved into the poll, earning a No. 13 ranking. Army dropped out of the Northeast Region.

The Navy women remained steady at sixth in the Mid-Atlantic Region this week, while Lehigh moved up 10th and Bucknell dropped from eighth to No. 11.

Paul Short Run previews League Championship
After days of rain soaked the Lehigh Valley, the 38th Annual Paul Short Run on Sept. 30, 2011, was a tough course to tread, but the Patriot League’s best shined against some of the nation’s best. The men’s Gold Race included No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 12 Princeton, No. 15 Syracuse, No. 17 Providence, No. 18 Villanova, No. 19 Virginia and No. 22 Georgetown. The women’s Gold Race featured No. 1 Georgetown, No. 3 Providence, No. 9 Duke, No. 12 Syracuse, No. 15 Villanova and No. 16 Virginia.

Lehigh’s Evans Kosgei led the Patriot League men in the Gold Race, finishing 10th with a time of 24:25. Kosgei, who was the runner-up at the Patriot League Championships in 2009 and 2010, looks to be the front-runner heading into the final couple weeks before the 2011 Championships.

With the 2011 Patriot League Championships being held  at Lehigh on Oct. 29, the Paul Short Run turned into a decent preview, especially on the women’s side where there looks to be a battle brewing.

The two-time defending champion, Colgate’s Elise DeRoo, has a strong challenger this season in Navy’s Jess Palacio, who edged DeRoo Friday by one second. Palacio was the League’s top finisher in the women’s Gold Race, placing 30th in 21:13. DeRoo was 32nd, finishing in 21:14.

Not too far behind were Lehigh’s Katherine Pierce and American’s Octavia Rinehardt. Pierce finished in 21:44 in the Gold Race, while Rinehardt was the individual runner-up in the Brown Race with a time of 21:42.

DeRoo looking for No. 3
After two straight Patriot League Championships, Colgate senior Elise DeRoo is back for one more title. She opened the season with an individual title at the Harry Lang Invitational, posting the second-best time in the event’s history, finishing the 4,200-meter run with a time of 15:48, which was 30 seconds faster than Syracuse’s Rebekah MacKay. She followed it up with a 12th-place finishing at the Colgate Invitational on Sept. 17, running the 6K in a time of 22:11.

She also is looking for her second straight Scholar-Athlete award in cross country and fifth total Scholar-Athlete award after having won in it twice in indoor track and field and once in outdoor track and field.

Navy men, Colgate women selected to repeat
The Navy men’s and Colgate women’s cross country teams have been selected to repeat as champions in 2011 Preseason Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Poll. The preseason polls are voted on by the coaches and the sports information directors.

The Navy Midshipmen, who won their third straight men’s title last season, earned 98 points and 14 first-place votes in the preseason poll. American got the other two first-place votes, finishing second with 84 points. Army followed with 75 points, and Colgate (54) edged out Lehigh (51) for fourth place. Bucknell (46), Holy Cross (25) and Lafayette (15) rounded out the poll.

The Colgate women, who won their first title last season, recorded 96 points and 12 first-place votes to top the preseason poll. Bucknell (86) and Navy (74) each received two first-place votes to finish second and third in the poll. Army was fourth with 58 points, and Lehigh (43), American (39) and Holy Cross (37) were separated by six points. Lafayette finished eighth with 15 points.

The Raiders return three of their four All-League runners from last season, including the individual champion, senior Elise DeRoo, and the individual runner-up, senior Chelsea Burns. Kendall Lyons, who placed 13th at last season’s championship, also returns. DeRoo, who has won two straight individual titles, will look to win a third title this season when the Patriot League Championships take place Oct. 29 at Lehigh University. She also will look to return the NCAA Championships, where she finished 100th last season. DeRoo was the 2010 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and she has won four total scholar-athlete awards in cross country and track and field.

On the men’s side, Navy loses two-time individual champion Andrew Hanko, but returns four All-League runners from last season, including three former Rookies of the Year — senior Jeremy Haney, junior Dean Black and sophomore Clay Elward.

Patriot League Weekly Awards

Male Runner of the Week
ROBERT YAMNICKY, BUCKNELL Jr., Shelton, Conn.
Yamnicky finished first at the Father Bede Invitational at St. Francis (Pa.) with a time of 16:09 in the 5K. Finishing first for the second time in his career and first since the 2009 Bloomsburg Open, Yamnicky helped the Bison place first out of four teams.

Female Runner of the Week
PAIGE SUTHERLAND, HOLY CROSS Sr., Groveland, Mass.
Sutherland finished 18th at the New England Championships with a time of 18:24, helping the Crusaders finish seventh out of 39 teams. This is Sutherland’s first Runner of the Week award of the season and fifth of her career. She has won seven weekly awards (Runner and Rookie) in her career.

Male Rookie of the Week
MICHAEL McGOWAN, BUCKNELL Fr., Ardmore, Pa.
McGowan helped the Bison place first at the Father Bede Invitational at St. Francis (Pa.) with his eighth-place finish (16:36). It was his second top-10 finish of the season.

Female Rookie of the Week
BETSY EDINGER, BUCKNELL Fr., Greenwich, N.Y.
Edinger was the top finisher on the women’s side, helping the Bison place first out of three teams at the Father Bede Invitational at St. Francis (Pa.). She finished the 5K in 19:42.