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LMU CROSS COUNTRY NEWS |
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OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION Sports Release August 27, 2007 Despite Key Losses, Lady Railsplitter Cross Country Team Begins 2007 Schedule With A Strong Start HARROGATE, TN – Following last season’s second place finish in the NCAA Regional and first ever trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship race, the Lady Railsplitter cross country team took a devastating hit due to graduation. Key runners lost were All-South Atlantic Conference performers Cherie Kern and Helena Sokolova, as well as multiple year letter-winner Heather Wice. All things considered, to lose two all-conference runners, one would think that the LMU women would be in a rebuilding stage. That is not the case. This weekend the Lady Railsplitters traveled to Cleveland, Tennessee to participate in the Lee Invitational hosted by Lee University and placed second among the four teams competing. Leading the charge for LMU was Preseason All-South Atlantic Conference member Emily Burke (Ewing, VA). Burk ran the race in 21:34.57 to finish fifth overall. Also finishing inside the top-10 was Michelle Ratliff (Jonesborough, TN) in sixth place, Kathleen Rollet (Bouge Chambalud, France) who finished seventh and Deidre Ratliff (Jonesborough, TN) who was ninth. Michelle Ratliff turned in a time of 21:37.88, while Rollet recorded a 21:53.91 and Deidre Ratliff a 22:25.58. Narrowly missing the top-10 were Jennifer Ely (Jonesville, VA) who ran a 22:33.51 to finished eleventh overall, first year cross country team member Lindsay Parda (Melbourne, FL) who was fourteenth with a 23:29.86 and Jessica Brandes (Maryville, TN) who was sixteenth with a time of 24:01.52. This weekend the Lady Railsplitters will again join the men’s squad when they travel to Sewanee, Tennessee for the Sewanee Invitational. The meet is the second of the year for the young but talented Lady Railsplitters who will be looking to gain even more respect as they continue their quest to again reach NCAA post-season competition. -LMU-
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