Aug. 20, 2007

LANCASTER, PA - The Johns Hopkins women's cross-country team earned the third spot in the Centennial Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Head coach Bobby Van Allen and the Blue Jays earned 64 points in the poll. Defending champion Dickinson will look to win its eighth straight title as the Red Devils received 81 points and nine first place votes. Haverford was second with 71 points and one first-place vote. Swarthmore (58 points) and Gettysburg (56 points) rounded out the top five.

Van Allen welcomes back a talent-laden roster led by sophomore Laura Paulsen (Lutherville, MD/Bryn Mawr). Paulsen burst on to the scene last year winning her first three races and posting runner-up finishes at both the Centennial Conference Championship and the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championship. She became the first Blue Jay to earn First Team All-Centennial honors in cross-country and led the squad to its highest ever finish at the conference meet. Paulsen will be joined on the course by sophomore Nadia McMillan (Owings Mills, MD/Upper Dublin (PA)) who finished 15th at the Centennial Conference Championship and senior Angela Kaon (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) who finished ninth at the Baltimore Metro Invitational.

Van Allen and the Blue Jays open the 2007 cross-country season on September 1st at the Baltimore Metro Invitational.

2007 Centennial Conference Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll

1. Dickinson - 81 pts. (9 first-place votes)
2. Haverford - 71 (1)
3. Johns Hopkins - 64
4. Swarthmore - 58
5. Gettysburg - 56
6. Muhlenberg - 44
7. Bryn Mawr - 29
8. Franklin & Marshall - 25
9. Ursinus - 22
10. McDaniel - 9

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