Men's Cross Country 22nd at NCAA Championship
Ian Fitzgerald Finishes 72nd to Lead Team
11/21/05 7:34PM
TERRE HAUTE, IN - On a cold and blustery day in the heartland of America, the William and Mary men's cross country team finished 22nd, only four points out of the top 20 at the NCAA Championships. Wisconsin placed six athletes in the top 15 to claim victory in a landslide, 37-105 over second-place Arkansas. The Badgers' Simon Bairu defended his NCAA crown from a year ago, running 29:15.9.
The Tribe was led by sophomore Ian Fitzgerald (Glenshaw, PA) in 72nd, who has been the top finisher since winning the Colonial Athletic Association championship at the end of October. Next across the line was redshirt-junior Sean Anastasia-Murphy (Gloucester, MA), outkicking several runners to improve his position about ten places over the final few hundred meters. Also finishing in the pack slightly behind Anastasia-Murphy was senior Jeff Hedley (Virginia Beach, VA) (31:22.5) and junior Adam Tenerowicz (Blackstone, MA) (31:25.3). Senior Matt Keally (Virginia Beach, VA) completed the scoring in 168th, eight seconds behind Tenerowicz. Junior Keith Bechtol (Alexandria, VA) was sixth for the Tribe, battling the cold to finish in 32:10.8, and 2004 All-American Christo Landry (Falls Church, VA), in his first race back from injury since the Pre-National Invitational on October 15th, finished with a disappointing time of 34:24.5.
"Today was a tough day, and not having Christo [Landry] where we were expecting him to be hurt a lot. But, we'll take these lessons and try again next season," head coach Alex Gibby said after the race. "If we had a top 30 runner like we did in years past, we're looking at finishing in the 10-12 range, instead of 20-22."
NCAA National Championship
Place Team Score
1. #1 Wisconsin 37
2. #2 Arkansas 105
3. #5 Notre Dame 178
4. #13 Iona 205
5. #3 Colorado 222
. . .
22. #15 WILLIAM AND MARY 518
Top Five Finishers:
Place Individual (Team) Time
1. Simon Bairu (WIS) 29:15.9
2. Richard Kiplagat (IONA) 29:21.9
3. Chris Solinsky (WIS) 29:27.8
4. Josh McDougal (LIB) 29:32.6
5. Westly Keating (UTPA) 29:38.1
W&M Individuals
72. Ian Fitzgerald 30:44.5
135. Sean Anastasia-Murphy 31:19.6
141. Jeff Hedley 31:22.5
149. Adam Tenerowicz 31:25.3
168. Matt Keally 31:33.6
219. Keith Bechtol 32:10.8
252. Christo Landry 34:24.5
Women's Cross Country Finishes Season 23rd at NCAAs
Meghan Bishop 76th Overall
11/21/05 7:50PM
TERRE HAUTE, IN - For a team that did not expect to be at this race until next season, William and Mary's women's cross country squad did very well for itself this afternoon at the NCAA Championships, finishing in 23rd, only ten points away from upsetting North Carolina for the second time in as many weeks. Stanford won the team championship in an upset of season-long No. 1 Duke, and defending champion Colorado also upset the Blue Devils to take second. Northern Arizona's Johanna Nilsson won the individual title by twelve seconds over Columbia's Caroline Bierbaum.
Junior Meghan Bishop (Blue Bell, PA) led the Tribe as she has all season, finishing the six kilometers in 20:54.1 for 76th place, seven seconds ahead of Julia Cathcart (Starkville, MS). Erin Prillaman (Midlothian, VA) continues to run well for the team, finishing third in 21:46.6. Sophomore Kaitlin Hurley (Portland, OR) sprinted into the chute two seconds after Prillaman, placing 173rd. Senior Karen Pulliam (North Potomac, MD) was the College's fifth finisher two seconds after Hurley, 21:51.4. Julie Taylor (Wilmington, DE) also placed in the top 200 in her first national championship. Rounding out the squad was sophomore Abby Booker (Haddonfield, NJ), finishing the course in 23:18.5.
NCAA National Championship
Place Team Score
1. Stanford 146
2. Colorado 181
3. Duke 185
4. Arizona State 191
5. Illinois 212
. . .
23. WILLIAM AND MARY 530
Top Five Finishers:
Place Individual (Team) Time
1. Johanna Nilsson (NAU) 19:33.9
2. Caroline Bierbaum (CLB) 19:46.0
3. Stephanie Madia (ND) 19:48.4
4. Victoria Mitchell (BUTLER) 19:50.4
5. Clara Horowitz (DUKE) 19:50.7
W&M Individuals
76. Meghan Bishop 20:54.7
86. Julia Cathcart 21:01.0
165. Erin Prillaman 21:46.6
173. Kaitlin Hurley 21:48.9
178. Karen Pulliam 21:51.4
190. Julie Taylor 21:57.4
246. Abby Booker 23:18.5