Men's and Women's XC Squads Perform Well at Brooks Invite

Oshkosh, Wis., October 17, 2009 – The Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s cross country teams will enter the 2009 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship meet on a high note following strong performances by both squads at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational on Saturday morning in Winneconne, Wis. The 10th-ranked Washington U. women’s team placed second out of 34 teams at the Brooks Invite, while the men’s squad came in seventh in a field of 35 schools.

No. 1 Calvin College was the only team to finish ahead of Washington University in the women’s race. Calvin won the meet with a team score of 80 points, seeing four runners post top-20 finishes on the 6k course, while Washington U. trailed Calvin by just 13 points with a team score or 93, and three runners finishing in the top-20 overall.

Junior Taryn Surtees paced the Bears, coming in sixth place with a time of 21:04. Senior Molly Schlamb was not far behind Surtees, coming in 10th overall with a time of 21:55, and sophomore Jessica Londeree rounded out the Bears’ top-three finishers by submitting a time of 22:09, which was good for 20th overall.

Also scoring for the Washington U. women was junior Sangeeta Hardy, who came across the finish line just three seconds after Londeree to finish in 21st place, and freshman Bronwyn Bedrick, who placed 34th with a time of 22:34. Rounding out the top-finishers for Washington U. was sophomore Erica Jackey (22:45, 42nd place) and freshman Brittany Cronin (22:56, 59th place).

Sophomore Michael Burnstein paced the WU men’s team by running a 24:48 in the 8k race and finishing 13th overall. The Bears finished ahead of one team ranked ahead of them in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association top-25 poll, Grinnell College, who finished in eighth place, 24 points behind Washington U.

Finishing second for the Red and Green was freshman David Hamm, who placed 35th with a time of 25:18. Just one second behind Hamm was senior Alex Bearden, and junior Dave Spandorfer posted a time of 25:30 to grab 51st place. Sophomore Malik Nabulsi rounded out the men’s scorers, as he came in 64th place, finishing 10 seconds behind Spandorfer.

The Washington U. men’s and women’s cross country teams will take next weekend off to rest for the 2009 UAA Championships. This year’s conference championship meet will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31, and is hosted by Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. (ET).