Sept. 13, 2003

BRONX, NY (September 13, 2003) - The Sacred Heart men and women's cross-country teams competed at the Fordham Ram Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park Saturday afternoon. The women's team took home a fourth-place finish while the men placed ninth. The Columbia women, nationally and regionally ranked, took first while the St. Joseph's men's team won the men's race.

Senior Katie Wrinkle (Medford, NY) turned in an 11th-place finish, her second top-15 of the season, to help guide the Pioneers. Wrinkle clocked in with a time of 19:05, a very fast time on this course for this early in the season. "Her time at this point of year is the fastest she has been on this course at any point in a season," stated head coach Christian Morrison.

Fellow senior Suzanne Neglia (Andover, NJ) finished 24th with a very solid time of 19:38. Freshmen sisters Kathleen Duffy (Monroe, CT) and Anne Duffy (Monroe, CT) were the next highest Pioneer finishers, placing 31st (19:48) and 50th (20:15) respectively. Sophomore Erin Kulasewski (West Warwick, RI) finished 56th (20:24), senior Christina Mendoza (Union City, NJ) 61st (20:28) and freshman Justine Fallon (Strafford, NH) finished 81st (20:59) to round out SHU's top-seven runners.

On the men's side, senior Matthew Uzenski (Oceanside, NY) turned in his best career time at Van Cortlandt Park, finishing 21st in a time of 26:45. His time was the fastest for any Pioneer runner on the course in school history. Sophomores Tyler Arnett (Clinton Corners, NY) and Robert Howard (Levittown, NY) finished 58th (27:51) and 70th (28:13) respectively.

Senior Andrew Renna (Danbury, CT) was 82nd (28:35), senior Joseph Zalak (Middle Village, NY) 89th (28:48), freshman Timothy Larson (Smithfield, RI), 91st (28:50) and junior Michael Hannon (Stony Point, NY) 105th (29:15) to round out SHU's top-seven finishers. Hannon's time was a personal best. For the men, it was the first time the Pioneers beat Holy Cross and Rider in competition. It was also the first time they had 10 runners finish under the 30-minute mark on this course.

"A very solid team effort on both sides today," stated Morrison. "Both teams are way ahead of where we were last season."

Both men and women's teams return to action next Friday afternoon at the Monmouth Invitational, starting at 4 pm.

For Full Fordham Ram Invitational Results Click Here

XXXXXXXXXXX