Forty-five Colleges and Universities to compete at New England Intercollegiate Championships

From Mike Scott

(Boston, Mass) -- Forty-five of the top colleges and universities from throughout New England will battle for regional bragging rights at the October 11 New England Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships at Boston's Franklin Park.

At the 2001 meet, Providence College ran away with the New England title, while Middlebury claimed second ahead of Rhode Island 102 to 109. Individually, Providence College's Roisin McGettigan outdueled Vermont's Michele Palmer 17:29 to 17:31.

Boston College (#5) and Yale (#37) are the top two participating schools in the most recent Finishlynx/NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Coaches' Poll. Boston College -- 6th at the 2001 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships -- won both invitationals in which the Eagles have competed this fall, the Sept. 7 Central Connecticut Invitational and the Sept. 14 New Hampshire Invitational. Yale's Bulldogs finished 3rd at the Sept. 14 Georgetown University Tri-Meet and 5th at the Sept. 28 Iona Meet of Champions. The Providence College women will not be present to defend their title; the Friar women will be competing at the Penn State's National Invitational.

Williams (#1) and Middlebury (#2) are the top two Division III teams in the country in the most recent NCAA Division III coaches' poll, but will also face Bowdoin (11th), Trinity (20th), Brandeis (22nd). Williams and Middlebury have already battled twice this fall, with Williams downing the defending NCAA D-III national champions at both the Sept. 21 Purple Valley Classic and the Sept. 28 Tufts Invitational in two close team battles.

The 28th-annual New England Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships gets underway at 12:00 noon with the College Women's race, followed at 12:45pm by the Championship Women's race. The New England Men's Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships follows.

For more information, entries, and results, go to: http://nechamps.home.att.net/

2001 New England Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Results
2001 Team results: 1, Providence 46; 2, Middlebury 102; 3, Rhode Island 109; 4, Harvard 165; 5, Brown 167; 6, Williams 239; 7, Amherst 251; 8, Connecticut 269; 9, Holy Cross 324; 10, New Hampshire 362.

2001 Individual results (* denotes returning athletes): 1, McGettigan, PC, 17:29; 2, Palmer*, VT, 17:31; 3, Silvering, URI, 17:49; 4, Casserly, PC, 17:49; 5, Korot*, Mid, 17:50; 6, Casilli, UConn, 17:51; 7, O'Shea, PC, 17:58; 8, Shearman, PC, 18:06; 9, Adrian*, Mid, 18:07; 10, Danahy, CT Coll, 18:10.

2002 Participating Institutions
Amherst College, Babson College, Bates College, Bentley College, Boston College, Boston University, Bowdoin College, Brandeis University, Brown University, Bryant College, Central Conn., Connecticut , Connecticut College, Dartmouth College, Emerson College (individual only), Hartford, Harvard University, Holy Cross, Keene State, M.I.T., Maine, Merrimack College, Middlebury College, New Haven, Northeastern, Providence College (JV only), Quinnipiac University, Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Anselm College, Southern Conn, Southern Maine, Springfield College, Stonehill College, Trinity College, Tufts University, UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell, Vermont, Wesleyan University, Westfield State, Williams College, Yale University,