Mundell, Stewart Lead JMU in Season-Opening UVa Duals

Friday, August 29

Earlysville, Va.

4:30 p.m.

James Madison University

UVa Duals

Kathleen Stewart was JMU's second finisher as she took 11th at the UVa Duals Friday afternoon.

8/29/2014 7:15:00 PM | Cross Country

EARLYSVILLE, Va. – The James Madison cross country team opened its season Friday at the UVa Duals with a pair of runners placing in the top 11 at the Panorama Farms Cross Country Course.

Sophomore Tessa Mundell (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and junior Kathleen Stewart (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) paced the Dukes as the duo completed the 4-kilometer race in 10th and 11th places with times of 14:49 and 14:50.

Madison defeated two of its five opponents in the team standings, downing Liberty (22-33) and Norfolk State (25-40) while falling to a trio of Atlantic Coast Conference schools in Florida State (38-17), Duke (40-15) and host Virginia (29-26).

Senior Rachel Hagen (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) took 27th place with a time of 15:36 while rookie Erica Gray (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) followed closely in 29th place (15:53). Rounding out the Dukes' day were freshmen Nora Raher (Centreville, Va./Chantilly) and Leslie Weidner (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley), who placed 38th (16:18) and 40th (16:27), respectively.

"The race plan was to run a 3K-tempo run - at a strong, but manageable pace," head coach Dave Rinker said. "They were broken into two groups: Tessa, Kathleen and Rachel were one group and Erica, Nora and Leslie were the second group. They were to get out strong, but under control; work together and not go too fast. Then, run the last 1,000 meters hard. They did an excellent job of sticking to the plan. There was a really long tough hill right after the half-way point and it broke us up some, but overall they did a great job of working together."

JMU returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 5 when the Dukes compete in their annual Alumni Meet in Massanetta Springs, Va. The race is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.

Team Scores
JMU 22, Liberty 33
JMU 25, Norfolk State 40
Florida State 17, JMU 38
Duke 15, JMU 40
Virginia 26, JMU 29

*Team wins are based on having a lower score*