Oct. 13, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. -- As the only school competing last week, Holy Cross swept the four Runner of the Week awards.

Sophomore Paige Sutherland led the way, winning her second Female Runner of the Week award by finishing sixth out of 327 runners at the New England Championship.

Tim Richard was named the Male Runner of the Week, while Kevin Turner was the Male Rookie of the Week and Elizabeth Harkins was the Female Rookie of the Week.

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Male Runner of the Week

Tim Richard, Holy Cross Sr., Attleboro, Mass. Richard led the men's team at the New England Invitational with a 62nd-place finish out of 320 runners, finishing the 8K with course a time of 25:50.

Female Runner of the Week

Paige Sutherland, Holy Cross So., Groveland, Mass. Sutherland helped the women's team place 18th at the New England Invitational with her sixth-place finish. She ran the race in 18:12. The Crusader sophomore has earned the Female Runner of the Week award twice this season.

Male Rookie of the Week

Kevin Turner, Holy Cross Fr., Charlton, Mass. Turner helped the men place 25th at the New England Championship Saturday with his 161st-place finish (26:43).

Female Rookie of the Week

Elizabeth Harkins, Holy Cross Fr., Latrobe, Pa. Harkins placed 166th for the women at the New England Championship, finishing in 20:03.

Patriot League Notebook

Regional Rankings

The Week 3 men's and women's regional polls were released Oct. 12 with seven Patriot League teams cracking the top 15 in their respective regions. The Navy men earned the highest ranking as they are fourth in Mid-Atlantic Region. Bucknell is 10th and American is 12th. In the Northeast Region, the Army men are 11th. On the women's side, Navy is eighth, Bucknell is ninth and Lehigh is 15th in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Buzzing Fast New `Bees'

Watch out for Busby, Byrne and Barry. Army's Jillian Busby and Navy's Brigid Byrne and Annie Barry have posted the top freshmen performances of the season, thus far. Busby was named the Female Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row after placing 78th out of 363 runners at the Paul Short Run. Byrne, who won consecutive Rookie of the Week awards in the first two weeks of the season, placed 83rd at the Paul Short Run. Barry was the Rookie of the Week in between Byrne and Busby, placing 18th at the Colgate Invite. She also earned the Runner of the Week award last week after placing 11th at the William & Mary Inter-Regional.

Hanko Vying For Title

Navy's Andrew Hanko, the runner-up in last season's League Championship, has won three of six Runner of the Week awards, including two of the last three. Hanko's top finish of the season was when he placed first at the Navy Invitational on Sept. 15. He also led Navy at the Roy Griak Invite (22nd) and at the Paul Short Run (13th). In 2008, Hanko earned All-Mid-Atlantic Region and First-Team All-Patriot League honors. He was the 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

Navy Sweeps Preseason Polls

The Navy men's and women's cross country teams have been selected to finish first in their respective 2009 Patriot League Preseason Polls. Both squads are the reigning Patriot League Champions. The Navy women's squad, which won the title outright last season, earned 97 points in the preseason poll, including 13 first-place votes. Bucknell garnered the other three first-place votes and 87 points to finish second in the poll. Lehigh was picked to finish third with 67 points, followed by Army (58) and Colgate (41). Holy Cross (40), American (38) and Lafayette (18) round out the eight teams in the poll. On the men's side, Navy took the top spot with 95 points and 11 first-place votes. Army picked up the other five first-place votes and 89 points to finish second. American (69), Lehigh (61) and Bucknell (55) followed in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively. Holy Cross and Colgate tied for sixth with 31 points, while Lafayette was picked eighth with 15 points.

2009 Patriot League Championships

The 2009 Patriot League Cross Country Championships will take place on Oct. 31 at Colgate University. The top 14 finishers in both the men and women's race will be awarded All-Patriot League status, with the top-seven being named to the First-Team and the next seven earning Second-Team recognition. 

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles were idle last week and return with the UVA Panorama Farms Invitational on Friday and the Leopard Invitational on Saturday. In its most recent event, American competed at the George Mason Invitational with the men placing sixth and women finishing seventh. The men were led by freshman Alex Lyons, who finished 43rd in his first career 8K (27:00). Rachel Forcino was the top finisher on the women's side, placing 29th in a time of 23:11 on the 6K course. 

Army The Black Knights were idle last week and will return to the course when they host Navy in the annual Star Meet on Friday. In their most recent event, the Black Knights ran at the Paul Short Run with the men's team finishing 15th and the women finishing 31st. Zac Reiter placed 51st on the men's side with a time of 24:36, while freshman Jillian Busby led the women with a 78th-place finish. 

Bucknell The Bison were idle last week and return to action at the Penn State National Invitational in State College, Pa., Friday. In their last event, the Bison men finished 19th out of 42 teams, while the women's squad was 13th of 40. For the third straight meet, Sarah Moniz and Andrew Huebner had the top performances for Bucknell. Moniz was 59th with a time of 21:37, while Huebner was 42nd (24:29).

Colgate The Raiders were idle last week and will return when they travel to the Albany Invitational Saturday. In their most recent event, sophomore Elise DeRoo led the women's team, finishing 15th at the Paul Short Run with a school-record time of 20:42. Her time also was the best among Patriot League runners at the event, where the women placed 26th and the men were 22nd. Junior Ed Sheridan led Colgate with his 34th-place finish. He ran the course in a personal-best time of 25:50. 

Holy Cross The Crusaders competed at the New England Championship in Boston on Saturday with the women finishing 18th out of 49 teams and the men placing 25th out of 47. Paige Sutherland led the Crusaders, placing sixth overall on the women's side with a time of 18:12. Tim Richard led the men's side with his 62nd-place finish (25:50). Holy Cross will be idle this week and will return on Oct. 24 at the Central Connecticut Mini-Meet.

Lafayette The Leopards were idle last week and will host the Leopard Invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday. In its most recent race, the Lafayette women's team finished in 35th place at the Paul Short Run, while the men placed 31st. Junior Margaret Bruno-Metzger was the top finisher on the women's side with a time of 22:03 to place 109th. Senior Rose Kennedy finished just behind her at 22:04. For the men, junior Ryan Stasiowski placed seventh in a time of 25:21.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks were idle last week and will compete again when they travel to the Penn State National Invite in State College, Pa., at 10 a.m. Friday. In their most recent event, the Mountain Hawks hosted the Paul Short Run with the men finishing 32nd out of 42 teams and the women finishing 30th out of 40 teams. Steve Sample led the men's team, placing 76th at the meet with a time of 24:46. Katherine Price was the top finisher on the women's side, placing 49th with a time of 21:31.

Navy The Midshipmen were idle last week and return to the course at Army in the annual Star Meet on Friday. The men will start at 4 p.m. and the women will follow at 4:45. Navy led the Patriot League in its latest race, the Paul Short Run, with the men placing fourth out of 42 teams and the women finishing 12th out of 40 teams. Andrew Hanko led the men's team with a 12th-place finish, while Amy Watson placed 28th.