Stewart Leads Dukes in Runner-up Finish at JMU Invitational

Saturday, September 13

New Market, Va.

10 a.m.

James Madison University

JMU Invitational

Stewart Leads Dukes in Runner-up Finish at JMU Invitational

9/13/2014 2:30:00 PM | Cross Country

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NEW MARKET, Va. – The James Madison cross country team produced a pair of top-10 finishes to place second at the 2014 JMU Invitational on a rainy Saturday morning at New Market Battlefield.

Junior Kathleen Stewart (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) led the charge for JMU with a seventh-place finish in the 58-person field after she completed the 5,200-meter course with a time of 18:36.40. That mark was 40 seconds faster than her previous personal record in the 5K (19:16.40) and was the 10th-fastest time in the event's history.

Making a move over the final 1.5K was senior Tiel Westbrook (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis), who moved up nearly 15 spots to round out the top 10 with her time of 19:00.10, improving her personal-best mark by nearly half a minute.

The third Duke to cross the finish line was sophomore Tessa Mundell (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin), who took 13th in 19:05.80. Freshman Erica Gray (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) placed 24th in her first collegiate race as she clocked a time of 20:06.40 and rounding out the team score was senior Rachel Hagen (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls), who completed the trek in 20:10.20, good for 26th place.

JMU finished second as a team behind the team champion Georgetown, which is ranked fifth in the country. The Hoyas tallied 17 points after claiming five of the top six spots. Madison had three runners place in the top 15 to score 57 points as it edged third-place George Mason, which finished with 64 points. Following Mason in the team standings were VMI, Longwood and Concord (W.Va.).

The record books were virtually reset at the conclusion of the race as the top-seven finishers now rank in the top 10 all-time at New Market Battlefield. Georgetown's Katrina Coogan won the race in 17:46.00, smashing the previous course record of 18:09.5, set back in 2009 by Duke's Emily Schwitzer.

Also on the course for the Dukes Saturday were sophomore Carol Strock (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley), freshman Nicole Goff (Yorktown, Va./Grafton), sophomore Ally Bodmer (Manassas, Va./Forest Park (Virginia Tech)), freshman Nora Raher (Centreville, Va./Chantilly), senior Morgan Sheaffer (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) and rookie Leslie Weidner (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley). Each of the non-team scorers for JMU placed between 27th to 43rd in the race.

The Dukes return to action next Friday, Sept. 19 when they travel to Farmville, Virginia, to compete in the Longwood Invitational.

Team Results:
Georgetown – 17 points (1-2-3-5-6)
James Madison – 57 points (7-10-11-14-15)
George Mason – 64 points (4-12-13-17-18)
VMI – 113 points (19-21-22-24-27)
Longwood – 149 points (25-29-30-31-34)
Concord – 174 points (32-33-35-36-38)