Oct. 2, 2009

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PHILADELPHIA - Sophomores Tyler Jones and Caitlin Storbeck once again led the La Salle men's and women's cross country teams to strong showings at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University on Friday.

The men finished ninth out of 42 teams in the team standings with 299 points, just four shy of eighth place Massachusetts. The Explorers were among the top 10 teams in a field that included nationally ranked Iona (7th), NC State (19th) and Princeton (30th). The regionally sixth-ranked Explorers topped three teams today that are currently ahead of them in the Mid-Atlantic regional rankings (Princeton, Villanova and Saint Joseph's).

That effort was led by Jones, who finished 26th overall out of 386 runners with a time of 24:13 in the 8K race. Trevon Rainford finished second for the Explorers with a 61st-place time of 24:41

In addition to Jones' top 25 finish, Trevon Rainford ran a 24:41 to cross the finish line in 62nd, quickly followed by Tom Pannulla (69th; 24:44), Sean Mallon (71st; 24:45), Dave Hausherr (76th; 24:46) and Sean Ward (79th; 24:47).

The Explorer women, currently ranked seventh in the Mid-Atlantic regional poll, finished 14th out of 40 teams. They also had stiff competition and finished in the top 15 in a race that included nationally ranked West Virginia (4th) in addition to many teams ranked regionally. The women were also the second Atlantic 10 team in the standings, topped only by Richmond.

Storbeck led the Explorers with a 21:37 mark for 62nd place out of 363 runners. Meghan Lutz and Meghan McGlinchey were once again the second and third Explorer women to finish, as both ran a 21:45 for 76th and 77th places, respectively.

Rounding out the top five was Samantha Gallagher (107th; 22:00) and Kellilyn Fierras (170th; 22:28).

The JV squads also ran, with a very strong showing from the men. Rookie Dan Day and senior Andrew Wagoner finished back-to-back in seventh and eighth places out of 407 runners. Both clocked a 25:20. James Mauro also finished in the top 20, as he crossed the finish line 16th with a time of 25:30.

Andrew Mahoney (31st; 25:47) and Rollin Deas (34th, 25:49) round out the top five Explorers in the race. The Explorers had two more finish in the top 50 - Kevin Buell (44th; 25:58) and Ray Coles (47th; 25:59).

On the women's side, senior Maureen Benner led the JV race by clocking a 23:46 for 65th place out of 283 runners. Khrystina Bauman came in second for the team as she ran a 24:00 for 79th place. Rounding out the top three Explorers is Nicole Schiavone with a 24:14 for 95th place.

The Explorers now take a week off to prepare for the Penn State Nationals on Friday, October 16.