Nov. 24, 1997

Women Finish 6th, Men 16th at NCAA Championships

Sarah Dupre and Ben Noad Capture All-America Honors

GREENVILLE, South Carolina--Junior Sarah Dupre (Kingston, Ontario) and junior Ben Noad (Bristol, England) took All-America honors as they helped their respective cross country teams to sixth and 16th place finishes at the 1997 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Greenville, South Carolina. Providence was just one of 11 schools to have both its men's and women's teams running for the national championship.

Dupre led the PC women to their ninth consecutive top ten finish in NCAA Championships by finishing 12th overall, covering the Furman University Golf Course's 5K course in a time of 17:00 minutes. She was followed by Rachel Hixson (Fr., Media, Pa.) who finished 44th in a time of 17:30. Maria McCambridge (Sr., Dublin, Ireland) was 54th in 17:37; Gladys Ganiel (Jr., Harrington, Me.) finished strong to take 93rd in a time of 17:55 and Dana Ostrander (So., Ballston Lake, N.Y.) closed out the Friars' scorers in 106th place in a time of 18:03. Stephanie O'Reilly (Fr., Wicklow, Ireland) was 142nd in a time of 18:33 and Yvonne O'Donnell (Sr., Mahopac, N.Y.) finished 172nd in with a time of 19:17.

Brigham Young University won the team title with 100 points. Stanford (102), Colorado (178), Dartmouth (205) and Wisconsin (227) finished in front of the sixth place Friars (230). Michigan, Oregon, Boston College and Georgetown rounded out the Top 10. Individually, Villanova's Carrie Tollefson won the race in a time of 16:29.

PC Coach Ray Treacy was pleased with his team's performance. "Sarah really came through for us," explained Treacy. He continued, "She was further back after the first mile than we had hoped. She really stuck with it. Rachel (Hixson) ran well and so did Maria (McCambridge) coming back from an injury. Gladys (Ganiel) held her own most of the race and was passing people at the end. I'm very happy with the progress that our women's team made this year."

In the men's 10 kilometer race, Ben Noad led the Friars to a 16th place finish, their best since an eighth place finish in 1995. Noad covered the course in 30:02 for an 18th place finish. Zack Ventress (Jr. Spokane, Wash.) was 90th in a time of 31:16; Paul McNamara (Sr., Galway, Ireland) was 107th (31:33); Rick Bush (Jr., Clifton Park, N.Y.) was 118th (31:38) and Carl Mauro (Jr., Hornell, N.Y.) rounded out the scorers with a 137th place finish (31:58). The Friars other two runners, Keith Kelly (So., Drogheda, Ireland) and Larry Morrissey (So., Waterford, Ireland) finished 154 (32:25) and 166th (32:56) respectively.

Teamwise, the Friars recorded 375 points. Stanford was first with 53 points and was followed by Arkansas (56), Colorado (108), Michigan (116) and Wisconsin (201) rounded out the top five. PC was second among BIG EAST teams with only Notre Dame (12th place - 309 points) finishing ahead of the Friars.

Treacy was pleased with the way the men ran. "We were one runner away from being in the Top 12," said Treacy. "I'm satisfied our finish. Ben Noad had a great race. I'm proud we made it - not many schools here had two teams running."

WOMEN'S RESULTS  
Team Results
 1.  Brigham Young      100
 2.  Stanford           102
 3.  Colorado           178
 4.  Dartmouth          205
 5.  Wisconsin          227
 6.  PROVIDENCE         230
 7.  Michigan           232
 8.  Oregon             234
 9.  Boston College     240
10.  Georgetown         256
11.  North Carolina St. 262
12.  Colorado State     279
13.  Arkansas           311
14.  Washington         341
15.  Missouri           382
16.  Florida            386
17.  Wake Forest        393
18.  Baylor             411
19.  Nebraska           457
20.  West Virginia      485
21.  Minnesota          493
22.  Georgia            518
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
 1.  Carrie Tollefson, Villanova        16:29
 2.  Amy Skieresz, Arizona              16:39  
 3.  Angela Graham,  Boston College     16:47     
 4.  Julia Stamps, Stanford             16:47
 5.  Katie MacGregor, Michigan          16:48
 6.  Carmen Douma, Villanova            16:50
 7.  Amy Yoder, Arkansas                16:56
 8.  Courtney Pugmire, BYU              16:58
 9.  Marie Davis, Oregon                16:59
10.  Amy Swier, No. Arizona             16:59
PC FINISHERS
12.   Sarah Dupre, PC           17:00
44.   Rachel Hixson, PC         17:30
54.   Maria McCambridge, PC     17:37
93.   Gladys Ganiel, PC         17:55
106.  Dana Ostrander, PC        18:03
142.  Stephanie O'Reilly, PC    18:33
172.  Yvonne O'Donnell, PC      19:17

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