ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, November 22, 2003

Melissa St. Clair Becomes 1st-Ever Etown Women's Cross Country All-American with 34th Place Finish at NCAA Division III National Championship Meet

HANOVER, Ind. --- At the NCAA Division III Championship cross country meet, hosted by Hanover College Saturday, junior Melissa St. Clair (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) placed 34th overall to become the first Etown women's cross country runner ever to earn All-America honors as well as only the school's second cross country All-American ever.

In a field of 213 runners, St. Clair started out in approximately 120th place through the one mile mark on the 6000m course. By the time a mile and a half was left in the race, she had weaved her way through the pack to around 75th place. Kicking into high gear in the last mile, St. Clair continued to advance and, according to Etown head coach Mike Dager, "passed a large pack in the last 100 meters and ended up 34th." He continued, deadpanning, "which is something we're very happy about."

St. Clair's final time was 22:58.7, putting her 34th overall. Only the top 35 runners earn All-America status.

In all, it was a fantastic day for the Mideast Region as a whole. All three of the region's team qualifiers finished in the top 16 among the 24 competing teams, meaning that the Mideast Region will get four team qualifiers in 2004. As a result of strong individual performances from the region, the Mideast will receive six individual berths in 2004 as opposed to the five the region received this year. St. Clair's All-American performance was the final, deciding factor in the allocation of the extra individual berth.

The national champion was Middlebury College, and the individual champion was Missy Buttry of Wartburg College.