Completed Event: Cross Country at Spider Alumni Open on August 30, 2025 , , 5th of 14
XC
Final
James Madison
at Spider Alumni Open
5th of 14
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Friday, October 26
Bethpage, N.Y. (Bethpage State Park)
10 a.m.
James Madison University
vs
CAA Championship
Seniors & Cross Country Set For CAA Championship
10/24/2018 11:44:00 AM | Cross Country
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The James Madison cross country team is set to run in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship on Friday in Bethpage, N.Y. With this being the last race until postseason races of the NCAA and ECAC, let's take a look at the senior class; Erica Jackson, Elise Rasmussen, Erin Saunders and Olivia Viparina.
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Make sure you check out quotes and photos from the Dukes' seniors across their four years at JMU.
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Erica Jackson – Virginia Beach, Va.
Jackson was a member of the 2017 CAA Cross Country Championship Team along with the 2016 and 2017 ECAC Championship team. This year she won the JMU Invitational with a 5.2K record of 19:43 and was named CAA Runner of the Week following the win. She finished 36th at the ECAC Championship in 2017. During the 2016 season, she earned All-CAA with a 12th place finish at the CAA Championship. Jackson is currently in Graduate School for Occupational Therapy at JMU. She will continue this next year to get my masters (MOT) in December 2020.Â
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Elise Rasmussen – Woodbridge, Va.
Rasmussen was a member of the 2016 ECAC Cross Country Championship squad. In her sophomore season, she competed in five races with a personal best 5K time of 20:31 at the ECAC Championship. She holds a 23:15 personal best 6K time which she set at the Paul Short Run on October 1, 2016. Elise is majoring in mathematics and will graduate in May and continue on to graduate school in engineering.Â
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Erin Saunders – Forest, Va.
Saunders was a member of the 2017 CAA Cross Country Championship Team along with the 2016 and 2017 ECAC Championship team. She took third this year at the JMU Invitational. She has been in the Top-11 at all four JMU Invitationals with her third-place finish being the best placement. She set a personal best 5K time last year at the ECAC Championship with her 19:01.8 finish, while her freshman year CAA Championship 5K time of 22:04.8 stands as her best. She is majoring in health sciences and pre-medicine and planning on applying to medical school in the near future, but she'll most likely spend the next year working as an EMT and research assistant in the JMU chemistry department.
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Olivia Viparina – Ledgewood, N.J.
Viparina was a member of the 2017 CAA Cross Country Championship Team along with the 2016 ECAC Championship team. As a sophomore she earned All-CAA after finishing 11th at the CAA Championship with a 22:20.31 time in the 6K. That same year she also finished sixth at the ECAC Championship. Her freshman season she finished 16th overall at the CAA Championship. She holds her best 5K time of 18:37 which she set at the ECAC Championships in 2016, while her 21:25 personal best 6K time was set at the Paul Short Run in 2016. She is majoring in Intelligence Analysis and she currently has a job as a cyber systems engineer at Northrop Grumman after graduation.Â
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Make sure you check out quotes and photos from the Dukes' seniors across their four years at JMU.
Â
Erica Jackson – Virginia Beach, Va.
Jackson was a member of the 2017 CAA Cross Country Championship Team along with the 2016 and 2017 ECAC Championship team. This year she won the JMU Invitational with a 5.2K record of 19:43 and was named CAA Runner of the Week following the win. She finished 36th at the ECAC Championship in 2017. During the 2016 season, she earned All-CAA with a 12th place finish at the CAA Championship. Jackson is currently in Graduate School for Occupational Therapy at JMU. She will continue this next year to get my masters (MOT) in December 2020.Â
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Elise Rasmussen – Woodbridge, Va.
Rasmussen was a member of the 2016 ECAC Cross Country Championship squad. In her sophomore season, she competed in five races with a personal best 5K time of 20:31 at the ECAC Championship. She holds a 23:15 personal best 6K time which she set at the Paul Short Run on October 1, 2016. Elise is majoring in mathematics and will graduate in May and continue on to graduate school in engineering.Â
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Erin Saunders – Forest, Va.
Saunders was a member of the 2017 CAA Cross Country Championship Team along with the 2016 and 2017 ECAC Championship team. She took third this year at the JMU Invitational. She has been in the Top-11 at all four JMU Invitationals with her third-place finish being the best placement. She set a personal best 5K time last year at the ECAC Championship with her 19:01.8 finish, while her freshman year CAA Championship 5K time of 22:04.8 stands as her best. She is majoring in health sciences and pre-medicine and planning on applying to medical school in the near future, but she'll most likely spend the next year working as an EMT and research assistant in the JMU chemistry department.
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Olivia Viparina – Ledgewood, N.J.
Viparina was a member of the 2017 CAA Cross Country Championship Team along with the 2016 ECAC Championship team. As a sophomore she earned All-CAA after finishing 11th at the CAA Championship with a 22:20.31 time in the 6K. That same year she also finished sixth at the ECAC Championship. Her freshman season she finished 16th overall at the CAA Championship. She holds her best 5K time of 18:37 which she set at the ECAC Championships in 2016, while her 21:25 personal best 6K time was set at the Paul Short Run in 2016. She is majoring in Intelligence Analysis and she currently has a job as a cyber systems engineer at Northrop Grumman after graduation.Â
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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