USF Cross Country Competes In Griak And Stanford Invitational :: Senior Jen Hartford finished 39th for the Dons in the Griak Invitational

Oct. 1, 2007

The San Francisco women's cross country team placed 14th at the Griak Invitational this past weekend in Minnesota, in one of the toughest competitions on the NCAA cross country schedule. University of Minnesota (NCAA #8) won the women's competition with 97 points narrowly defeating Arizona State with 100 points (NCAA #6). Michigan State (NCAA #9), UC Santa Barbara and Nebraska rounded out the top five teams. The individual winner was Emily Harrison of Virginia in 20:51.4

Senior Jennifer Hartford led the Dons placing 39th in 22:24.7. Hartford was followed by junior Michelle Born (86th, 23:17.1) and seniors Fallon Heffernan (89th, 23:19.4) and Lucy Miller (101th , 23:28.3). Sophomore Mary Verran rounded out the scoring five for the Dons in 134th place, 24:02.7.

"Our women got out well in a large field but needed to work more on pushing from 3K to 5K," said head coach Helen Lehman-Winters. "Our training is going very well so I am confident we will execute better the next time we compete"

The Dons also sent a split squad of women to the Stanford Invitational to compete in the 4k race Saturday in Palo Alto. Leading the team was senior Zita Mezei, who placed eighth overall with a time of 14:50. Also running well was freshmen Amelia Holcombe who placed 24th in 15:36 in her first collegiate race.

The men had athletes compete in the Stanford 8k and 4k races. Leading the men in the 4k race was junior Alex Nelson, who placed seventh overall with a time of 12:36. In the 8k race the men were led by senior Cheyne Inman who placed 73rd overall with a time of 25:33.

Next up for the Dons is the San Francisco State Invitational in Golden Gate Park on Saturday, October 6, 2007. For complete results from all of the races this weekend please click on the links above.