Nov. 24, 2003

The Duke women's cross country team, ranked 27th in the latest national poll, completed its season with a 20th-place finish at the 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championship, held Monday afternoon at the Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course. Stanford took home the team championship, while North Carolina's Shalane Flanagan, the 2002 national champion, defended her title with another first-place showing.

Leading the way for the Blue Devils for the first time this season was junior Paige Miller. Miller, who was unable to compete last season, recorded a time of 21:07.4 in the 6k race to finish 80th overall. Sophomore Sally Meyerhoff was the 107th runner to cross the line, clocking in at 21:18.4, while Natasha Roetter came in 112th, with a time of 21:19.5.

Freshman Lindsay Van Alstine, competing in her second race of the season, notched a time of 21:37.4 to finish 159th overall and sophomore Laura Stanley, Duke's all-region performer a week ago, rounded out the scoring for Duke, coming in 177th with a time of 21:49.2.

Also representing the Blue Devils at the national meet were senior Heidi Hullinger, who recorded a mark of 22:07.7 and sophomore Shannon Rowbury with a time of 22:21.3.