Oct. 17, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore Tyler Jones led the La Salle cross country team with a ninth place overall finish at the Penn State Nationals on Friday as the Explorers braved snow, sleet, rain and mud on the West Branch course at Lock Haven University.
The meet was originally scheduled to run in State College, but a foot of snow forced the cancellation. However, many teams slated to compete still wanted to run, and the meet was moved to Lock Haven where the snow was not as deep.
Jones ran a 25:32 on the 8K course to cross the finish line ninth out of 130 runners. Trevon Rainford was the second Explorer to finish, placing 24th with a time of 25:57.
Several of the men ran tight with the remaining five scorers finishing between 34th and 42nd. Sean Ward led the pack in 34th with a mark of 26:15. Nick Crits and rookie Dan Day both ran a 26:17 in coming in 36th and 37th. Fellow rookie Joe Beveridge followed one second later, with Alfredo Santana rounding out the pack in 26:23.
The men finished sixth in the team standings out of 11 teams. Cornell led all teams as each of its scoring runners finished in the top 25.
Caitlin Storbeck led on the women's side with a 44th place finish out of 202 runners, and all scoring runners finished in the top half of the field. Storbeck completed the 6K course in 22:11. Samantha Gallagher placed 51st as the second Explorer to cross the finish line, and clocked a 22:25.
Meghan Lutz was the third Explorer with a 58th place time of 22:42, and rookie Meghan McGlinchey finished five seconds later in 64th. Rounding out the scoring was Colleen Boland (84th; 23:18), Kellilyn Fierras (85th; 23:20) and Maureen Benner (101st; 23:47).
The Explorers finished 10th in the team standings among a very strong field of competition, including three nationally ranked squads. No. 3 West Virginia won the meet with just 27 points, No. 16 Penn State came in second and No. 25 Providence earned third place.
Several Explorers also ran at the Leopard Invitational at Lafayette College on Saturday. The men were led by Kevin Buell's sixth place overall finish out of 52 runners. Buell clocked a 26:27.30 in the five mile race. Ray Coles (19th; 26:50.60) and Kasey Gellar (24th; 27:02.60) rounded out the top three Explorers.
Pamela Alva led the Explorer women at Lafayette with a 53rd place finish out of 100 runners. Alva clocked a 24:34.30 in the 6K race. Bridget Tull (71st; 25:15.80) and Colleen O'Donnell (80th; 26:14.60) were the second and third Explorers to finish, respectively.
The Explorers return to action when they head to the Atlantic 10 Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Forrest Park in St. Louis, MO.
