2007 Elizabethtown College Women's Cross Country Preview

The Elizabethtown College women's cross country team is coming off a 2006 season that saw the squad finish second at the MAC championships for the second straight year, take fourth at the NCAA Mideast Regional meet, and qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships for the second time in three years.

Head coach Chris Straub assumed the duties in August in addition to his role as the head men's cross country coach, and begins his second stint (1998-2001) with a strong one-two punch of senior Erin Fisher (McEwensville, PA/Warrior Run) and junior Tiffany Kulp (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge).

Fisher became the first Blue Jay to win the MAC individual championship last year, and followed by finishing fifth at the NCAA Mideast Regional meet and 67th at the NCAA championships, while Kulp took eighth in the MAC and 30th in the region.

Sophomore Megan VanDenHengel (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley), junior Amanda Daws ( Thorofare, NJ/ West Deptford) and senior Sarah Grove (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East) will provide depth to the Blue Jay lineup, along with sophomore Sarah Merusi (Montague, NJ/Port Jervis, NY) and senior Meghan Ryder (Hatboro, PA/Hatboro-Horsham). All five runners finished in the top half of the MAC championship meet last season.

First-year students Kristen O’Brien (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill), Kristen Bowen (West Chester, PA/Downingtown West), Alex Walmer (Hershey, PA/Hershey) and Teresa Beshore (New Cumberland, PA/Red Land) hope to add depth to the experienced group of returning runners.

After splitting the squad for a pair of early-season meets at Delaware Valley and Davis & Elkins, the Blue Jays will compete as a full team at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University on Sept. 28.