ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, October 30, 2004

View pictures of the meet here

Etown Wins First-Ever MAC Championship

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College women's cross country team won its first Middle Atlantic Conference Championship ever Saturday, placing first out of 15 teams with a score of 46 points, 19 points ahead of second-place Moravian, at the MAC Championships at Belmont Plateau Saturday.

Five Etown runners earned All-MAC honors by placing in the top 20 in the 6000m race of 123 people, and four of them earned places on the All-MAC First Team by placing in the top ten. The First Team All-MAC runners from Etown were senior Melissa St. Clair (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg), who finished fifth in 23:33, first-year Katie Garner (Wyncote, PA/Cheltenham), who placed seventh in 23:53, first-year Jessica Cook (Harrisburg, PA/Bishop McDevitt), who placed ninth in 24:09, and sophomore Erin Deihl (Aaronsburg, PA/Penn Valley), who finished tenth in 24:15. Earning a spot on the All-MAC Second Team for Etown by finishing between 11th and 20th was junior Danielle Frye (Hamburg, PA/Hamburg), who placed 15th in 24:37.

44 seconds separated Etown's number two runner from Etown's number five runner, and that proximity in the race allowed the Blue Jays to score lower than second place Moravian, which placed its top two runners in third and fourth place overall, respectively, but then did not see another runner cross the finish line until 1:29 later for 17th place in the race. It was the first time this season that Etown defeated Moravian, which is ranked third in the Mideast Region.

Etown will return to action at the Mideast Regional Championships Saturday, November 13 at Allegheny College. There, the Blue Jays will try to qualify as a team to compete at the NCAA Division III Championships November 20 for the first time ever.

at Belmont Plateau, Philadelphia, Pa.
Middle Atlantic Conference Championships
hosted by Widener University, 6000m Course
Team Scores: 1. Elizabethtown 46; 2. Moravian 65; 3. Messiah 104; 4. DeSales 114; 5. Juniata 144; 6. Susquehanna 149; 7. Scranton 185; 8. Albright 211; 9. Lebanon Valley 256; 10. Widener 307; 11. Delaware Valley 333; 12. King's 345; 13. Drew 359; 14. Lycoming 364; 15. FDU-Florham 410.
Etown Individual Finishers (123 runners): 5. Melissa St. Clair* 23:33; 7. Katie Garner* 23:53; 9. Jessica Cook* 24:09; 10. Erin Deihl* 24:15; 15. Danielle Frye^ 24:37;
27. Amanda Santore 25:20; 29. Tara Fagan 25:25; 32. Erin Fischer 25:35; 47. Liz Heppard 26:20; 53. Julie Torchia 26:40; 55. Meghan Ryder 26:55; 60. Kim Whalen 27:06.