Nov. 22, 2008

Courtesy of Middlebury

The Middlebury College women's cross country team won its fifth NCAA Championship with a convincing victory at the race held in Hanover, Indiana. The Panthers previously won titles in '00, '01, '03 and '06, earning the 29th national title for Middlebury College since '95. Aside from the eight NCAA men's hockey titles, women's cross country, women's lacrosse and women's hockey have each won five national crowns at Middlebury.

The Panthers ended the race with 179 points, 59 points ahead of second-place Calvin (237). Williams (240), Wartburg (284) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (310) rounded out the top five.

Senior Alexandra Krieg, who earned a top 10 finish for the third straight year, led the Panthers in sixth place with a time of 21:14, 21 seconds off the winning pace. Sophomore Hannah Meier finished the race in 39th place (21:52) for the Panthers. 

Behind Krieg and Meier were a pack of three rookies, who won a title in their first fall on campus. Elise Moody-Roberts came in 57th place (22:04) in the 279-woman race, followed by Claire McIlvennie in 78th place (22:16). Margo Kramer was next for the Panthers in 98th place (22:29) overall, to round out Middlebury's scorers.

First-year racer Cate Brown came in 116th (22:37) for Middlebury, while sophomore Sophia Spring rounded out the squad with a 153rd place finish (22:54).

Courtesy of Cortland State

HANOVER, IND. - The SUNY Cortland men's cross country team won its first NCAA Division III title, outdistancing the 32-team field at Hanover College. The Red Dragons placed all seven of their runners, including the five scorers, in the top 75 and finished with 80 points. North Central of Illinois was second with 115 points and Williams College finished third with 129 points.

Four Cortland runners earned All-America honors with top-35 finishes over the 8,000-meter course. Seth DuBois was seventh in 24:38.73, Shamus Nally finished 11th in 24:46.67, Josh Henry was 15th in 24:48.21 and Justin Wager placed 28th in 24:57.47.

Kyle O'Brien finished 61st (25:18.78), Stephen Scrafford was 65th (25:21.08) and Jerry Greenlaw finished 73rd (25:25.98).