East Carolina University
Penn State Nationals
Cross Country Competes At Lock Haven
October 19, 2009 | Cross Country
Oct. 19, 2009
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - After four inches of snow fell in State College, Pa., Friday, the Penn State National cross country meet was moved to nearby Lock Haven University and the West Branch Cross Country Course. East Carolina's men's team placed seventh out of 11 squads while the women finished 14th of 18. Freshman Dillon Hawley and sophomore Tara Wilson came in first for their respective teams.
"We did well all things considered," head coach Dan Lee said. "We had a tentative plan to go to the University of Delaware to compete at a meet it was hosting Saturday. Friday morning I sent the team out for a 60 minute run and then at around 11:00 a.m., I was informed that the Penn State meet was still a possibility if we were willing to drive to Lock Haven."
For the fourth time this season, Hawley paced the Pirates, finishing the 8K in 25:48. His performance placed him 18th overall out of 130 runners.
Redshirt sophomore Antoine Berlin narrowly missed out on a top-50 performance, as he came in 51st-place with a time of 26:34.
Sophomore Zack Montijo (26:54/76th), freshman Grant Burress (26:58/80th) and freshman Cory Hampshire (27:04/82nd) all finished in the top 85 for ECU.
Senior Jarrett Newby (27:41/96th) and freshman Brian Quintrell (28:10/114th) rounded out the Pirate runners who scored points for the team.
Also running for the men were sophomore Edrian Murray (29:10) as well as freshmen Antonio Palmer (29:59) and Matthew Poiesz (30:11).
On the women's side, Wilson led the way with a 22:44 time in the 6K, placing her 74th overall. The time was a personal record as well as the 17th best in program history.
Sophomore Amanda Lapp (23:12/102nd), senior Samantha Lichtner (23:23/115th) and freshman Stacey Gonzalez (23:27/123rd) were the other Pirate runners to finish in the top 125. Lapp's time was a career best, 1:40 better than her 6K performances a season ago. Lichtner also set a career best with her time, cutting 12 seconds from her previous top run.
Freshman Brooke Kott (23:58/142nd), junior Lisa DeLorenzo (24:50/169th) and sophomore Andrea Barletta (24:52/171st), running the first 6K of her career, were the final ECU runners.
"None of the athletes competed fresh after the hour run we sent them on," Lee said. "It was a gut-check race for the team and most of them performed admirably given the situation. I was proud of them for competing so tough in a difficult situation."
The Pirates' next scheduled event is the Conference USA Championship at the Bear Branch Sportsfields in Woodlands, Texas, Oct. 31. Last season at the league meet, the men placed fifth and the women came in sixth.
