Cross Country Opens Season with Win at VMI Relays

Friday, September 2

Lexington, Va.

TBA

James Madison University

VMI Relays

9/3/2011 1:32:00 AM | Cross Country

LEXINGTON, Va., Sept. 2, 2011 - James Madison opened its 2011 cross country season Friday with a team victory at the VMI Relays at the Virginia Horse Center.

Sophomore Carrie Payne (Annandale, Va./Woodson) turned in the Dukes' fastest individual time as she covered her two legs of the 1.5 mile course in 18 minutes, two seconds. She ran each leg in an identical time of 9:01.

Payne's runner-up finish was only bested by Cincinnati's Alison Zukowski, who won the individual race by 28 seconds in 17:34.

All six Dukes competing finished inside the top 20 of the race. Freshman Kristen Landry (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) was fifth with a time of 18:13 (9:01; 9:12), while freshman Morgan Price (Gainesville, Va./Brentsville) took ninth in 18:39 (9:12; 9:27).

Freshman Rachel Hagen (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) and sophomore Julie Strange (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) completed the two-loop course back-to-back in 12th and 13th places. Hagen crossed the line in 18:47 (9:09; 9:38) and Strange clocked a time of 18:57 (9:16; 9:41). Freshman Lizzy Powell (Richmond, Va./Godwin) rounded out the Dukes in 20th with a time of 19:25 (9:25; 10:00).

JMU finished the meet with 14 points, two ahead of Cincinnati (16). VMI was not far behind in third with 19 points. Concord (38) edged Radford (39) by a point for fourth place and Longwood rounded out the scoring with 58 points.

The three relay teams consisted of Payne and Hagen, Landry and Strange and Price and Powell.

The Dukes return to action next Saturday, Sept. 10 when they host the JMU Invitational at New Market Battlefield in New Market, Va. The men's race will begin at 10 a.m., with the women's race following at 11 a.m.

NOTE: Team scoring consisted of the places from a school's top three relay teams, so six runners made up a school's team score.

Final Team Results:
1. James Madison 14
2. Cincinnati 16
3. Virginia Military 19
4. Concord 38
5. Radford 39
6. Longwood 58

Relay Team Times:
Payne & Hagen           36:49
Landry & Strange        37:10
Price & Powell             38:04