Women's Cross Country Wins WUSTL Early Bird; Men Finish Second
RESULTS (PDF)
St. Louis, Mo., September 3, 2011 – The Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s cross country teams opened the 2011 season by running in the Washington University Big River Running Early Bird Meet on Saturday morning at the Central Field of Forest Park in St. Louis, Mo.
The Washington University women’s squad swept the top four individual spots and held five of the first six positions to score 16 points and captured the team title. Washington University’s men’s team saw three runners finish in the top-10 to compile 39 points, but the Bears were edged by the WUSTL Alumni, who scored 36 points to place first overall.
Southeast Missouri State (46 points), Central Methodist University (107 points), William Woods University (163 points) and Lindenwood University (190) points rounded out the women’s top five. Southeast Missouri State (79 points) was third in the men’s team standings with Maryville University (153 points) coming in fourth and Principia College (158 points) finishing fifth.
Senior Liz Phillips grabbed the women’s individual title with a time of 14:46.9 on 4K course, edging WUSTL freshman Lucy Cheadle by 0.3 seconds.
Washington University sophomore Sarah Fisher came in third with a time of 14:49.0, and senior Molly Wawryzniak finished fourth in 14:51.0. Senior Erica Jackey rounded out the top five for the Bears with a sixth-place individual showing and a time of 15:07.5.
Senior Tucker Hartley paced the Washington University men’s squad in their 6K race, finishing fourth overall with a time of 19:19.2. Senior Michael Burnstein was the next Bear across the finish line, coming in sixth in 19:23.2, and freshman Drew Padgett was the third runner to finish in the top-10, coming in eighth in 19:33.9.
Freshman Ryan Senci was just outside of the top-10 with a 12th-place time of 19:48.6, and sophomore Elliott Petterson came in 15th by finishing in 19:48.6.
The Washington University men’s and women’s cross country teams will return to action on Friday, Sept. 16, for the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Cross Country Challenge in Edwardsville, Ill., starting at 5:30 p.m.