Women's Cross Country | September 4, 2015

PHILADELPHIA-The La Salle women's cross country team opens up its schedule this season looking to build on its second place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship last season. The Explorers return four of their seven scorers from last year's second place team including individual champion, sophomore Morgan Szekely, and fellow All-Conference team member, sophomore Megan Connell.
 
"We had some success with a very young class of girls last season," added second-year head coach Tom Peterson. "We had lot of young faces especially in our top seven. We bring back Morgan Szekely who is the reigning A-10 champion. We are going to try and make some improvements on the cross country course, in particular where she finished at the NCAA Championship but she is coming back off a great freshman campaign. On top of that we have some girls who had some really good spring track seasons. Megan Connell finished 12th in the A-10 in cross country last season."
 
Szekely went on to finish fifth at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional to qualify for the NCAA Championships where she finished in 169^th place overall. Szekely and Connell were joined by classmate Kaitlin Poiesz, who sat out last season due to injury, at the USA Championships in Colorado in February. Connell led the way with an 11^th place finish to earn a spot on the USA team at the APA Pan American Cross Country Cup where she finished in ninth place helping lead the U.S. to a second place finish.
 
The Explorers also return senior Kaylie McNally and sophomore Michelle Myland who finished 43^rd and 64^th respectively at the Atlantic 10 Championship last year, each scoring points for La Salle. Other returns who look to factor include Poiesz, sophomore Emily Ward and senior Rebecca Scardelletti.
 
"Also we pull back into the mix Kaitlin Poiesz who is a sophomore but was injured last fall," added Peterson. "She had a fantastic spring track season. We bring back some senior girls like Rebecca Scardelleti and junior Olivia Boyer. We have some good runners coming back and look for a strong season."
 
La Salle opens its season with four straight local meets beginning with the Lehigh Invite on Friday September 4 in Bethlehem, Pa. The Explorers will also run at the Friends Big Fie Invite, Main Line Invitational, and Paul Short Run before hitting the road for the Greater Louisville Classic. The Atlantic 10 Championships will be on October 31 in Mechanicsville, Va. at Pole Green Park.