Stewart, Mundell Lead JMU Charge at Paul Short Run

Saturday, October 4

Bethlehem, Pa.

10 a.m.

James Madison University

Paul Short Run

10/4/2014 5:45:00 PM | Cross Country

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The James Madison cross country team registered one its best finishes in program history at the Paul Short Run Saturday on the campus of Lehigh University after it finished 17th out of 38 teams and placed a pair of individuals in the top 40 of the gold race.

The Dukes saw three runners produce new collegiate personal records, led by junior Kathleen Stewart (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South). Stewart completed the 6,000-meter course with a time of 20:33, which was good for 19th out of 329 finishers. She set a new PR by over two-and-a-half minutes, besting her mark of 23:12, set at last year's Paul Short. It was also the second-fastest time by a JMU runner at the event in program history.

"When you have two of the top-10 teams competing in Georgetown and Florida State and to see her finish in the top 20, Kathleen put herself where she needed to be to pull through," head coach Dave Rinker said.

Sophomore Tessa Mundell (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) also turned in her fastest 6K time as a collegian after she crossed the finish line in 21:04, good for 39th place. Her time was 49 seconds better than her previous PR, also set at the 2013 Paul Short Run, and was the fifth-best Paul Short time in JMU history.

Following Mundell was JMU's No. 3 runner, sophomore Carol Strock (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley). Strock covered the course in 22:00, a personal record, as she took 132nd overall (125th scoring).

Senior Rachel Hagen (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) and freshman Erica Gray (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) finished closely to one another as the duo was separated by a mere six seconds. Hagen took 193rd (178th scoring) with a time of 22:24 while Gray placed 204th (189th scoring) in 22:30. Freshman Nicole Goff (Yorktown, Va./Grafton) rounded out the team's day in the gold race by taking 233rd (211th scoring) with a time of 22:43.

"I thought our first two ran outstanding and the pack did really well staying together," Rinker said. "They raced well as a group but just need to move up a little to make us a really good team. This is probably the third-best team we've taken to Paul Short, behind our 2009 and 2010 teams which won the conference.

"We still have a couple people to get healthy but if that happens we're pretty good," Rinker continued. "We have a chance to be very good if we get everybody back. We are where we want to be from a training standpoint and need a couple more big races like this."

Earlier in the morning, five Dukes took the course for the 6K open race, which saw 402 runners finish. Senior Kristen Landry (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) led the squad with a 79th-place finish after she completed the race in 23:09.

Freshman Haley Mahn (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley) began her collegiate career taking 81st place. She also compiled a time of 23:09 but was fractions of a second behind Landry to claim JMU's No. 2 slot in the race.

A little more than a half minute later, sophomore Meghan Malloy (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial), who was an All-CAA honoree last year, finished 112th with a time of 23:45 in her first race of 2014. Freshman Leslie Weidner (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) and Angelique DeMeo (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) rounded out the Dukes' performances in the 6K open race. Weidner placed 174th with a time of 24:33 while DeMeo crossed the line in 24:46, good for 190th.

JMU will have next weekend off before heading to Terre Haute, Ind., to compete at the Indiana State Pre-Nationals, Oct. 18.

Gold Race Results
Kathleen Stewart – 20:33 (19th) - PR
Tessa Mundell – 21:04 (39th) - PR
Carol Strock – 22:00 (132nd, 125th scoring) - PR
Rachel Hagen – 22:24 (193rd, 178th scoring)
Erica Gray – 22:30 (204th, 189th scoring
Nicole Goff – 22:43 (233rd, 211th scoring)
Team – 1:48:31 (550 points, 17th place of 38 teams)

Open Race Results (402 runners)
Kristen Landry – 23:09 (79th)
Haley Mahn – 23:09 (81st)
Meghan Malloy – 23:45 (112th)
Leslie Weidner – 24:33 (174th)
Angelique DeMeo – 24:46 (190th)