Cross Country Shows Well in Season Opener
Aug. 30, 2008
Complete Women's Results | Complete Men's Results ST. LOUIS - The Saint Louis University cross country squads opened their 2008 season this morning at the Big River Running Early Bird at Forest Park. The women's squad featured six runners who finished in the top 21, led by freshman Hilary Orf, and finished second out of 13 collegiate teams. The men, who were paced by sophomore Brian Holdmeyer, turned in a sixth-place finish out of 15 teams. "I think everyone was happy to get the season underway," Billikens head coach Jon Bell said. "The summer training was spread out essentially over 12 weeks, so it is always nice to finally compete against someone other than your teammates. Overall, I am pleased with our start and look forward to the rest of the season." Orf covered the 4K course around Central Field in a time of 14:53.2, which was good for ninth overall in what was her first collegiate meet. Senior Mary Moloney led a pack of six Billikens who were separated by seven seconds. Moloney pulled in 13th overall with at time of 15:16, while junior Laura Peabody was 16th overall with a time of 15:17.8. Senior Molly Burke was 17th overall with a time of 15:18.4, while senior Lauren Verzal (15:22.3) and freshman Adair Quisenberry (15:23.4) finished 19th and 20th, respectively.
"The women's team had a nice finish and ran close to Marquette, which very well could be at the NCAA Championships this season," Bell said. "We had hoped that our top 5 would run in a pack with a separation of about 45 seconds. Today, they exceeded that expectation and ran 28 seconds apart. Hilary ran a terrific race. She stayed with her race plan and executed it perfectly and ran her way into the top 10. I was also pleased with Adair Quisenberry, who really showed how competitive she will be on the cross country course." Sophomore Sara Fraley turned in a time of 15:35.4, while sophomore Amanda Labuz crossed in 16:09.9. Freshman Jenna Romano posted a time of 16:22.4 in her first collegiate meet. For the men, Holdmeyer finished ninth out of 185 competitors with a 6K time of 19:24.9. Junior Neal Rodrigues was the second Bills finisher when he crossed in 20:16.6, which was good for 29th overall. Junior John Woodman and sophomore Kyle Ross turned in times of 20:29.9 and 20:41.2, respectively. Freshman Stephen Mackey crossed in 20:44.5, which earned him a top-50 finish in his first collegiate meet. Junior Greg Orf finished 54th with a mark of 21:02.4, and freshman Will Herrington was 60th with a time of 21:24.1. "Brian Holdmeyer had a nice race, and I expect he will feed off his experience from junior nationals last season because that is such a confidence boost," Bell said. "He came back in great shape and raced smart and intelligently, and I look for more of the same with him as the season progresses. Neal Rodrigues will continue to improve the rest of the season, and I was surprised with the way John Woodman has been running, a testament to his summer training program." The Billikens are back in action on Sept. 19 when they participate in the National Catholic Championships in South Bend, Ind. |
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