2008 Woodie Awards
Successful season comes to a close for cross country teams
Ladies finish second at nationals, many of men's top runners return next year
Tony Casey
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Sports
Originally published: 11/29/07 at 6:03 PM EST
Last update: 11/29/07 at 6:01 PM EST
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The Plattsburgh State women's cross country team capped off their best season yet with a runner up performance at the NCAA Division III Cross Championships at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn.
"They left their legacy in school history and I can only thank them for their hard work and dedication," Head Coach John Lynch said.
In the preseason rankings they grabbed their highest preseason rankings ever, at 20th.
At the end of the season they were the second best in the country.
The season had developed a little differently than Lynch and his team had wanted. They battled through ups and downs, as they had to deal with a large amount of injuries and being overlooked as one of the top teams in the country.
On the opposite, they had much success in early season meets.
"When we placed only two points behind Amherst (ranked No. 1 all fall) at the Williams Invitational we realized that we really did have a shot at our goals," senior Allison Busby said.
Busby led the Lady Cards with an eighth place, All-American finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.
This brought the Cardinal women to forefront of the women's Division III rankings. They kept climbing until they reached a fifth place plateau the week before the championships.
Things may have even been better if there weren't as many injuries.
"In terms of development, the season would have been close to perfect if it weren't for injuries," senior Jen Taft said.
Throughout the course of the season five of the Cardinals' top seven runners were injured, changing the development of the team.
"Allison, Toni, Alyssa, Brittney and I all got hurt within about a week of each other," Taft said. "Luckily everyone was able to recover enough to race at regionals and nationals."
And recover they did.
They tied for first with Geneseo State at the Atlantic Regional Championships to qualify for NCAAs. Their second place finish at the NCAA Championships was the highest team finish ever for PSUC.
"They left their legacy in school history and I can only thank them for their hard work and dedication," Head Coach John Lynch said.
In the preseason rankings they grabbed their highest preseason rankings ever, at 20th.
At the end of the season they were the second best in the country.
The season had developed a little differently than Lynch and his team had wanted. They battled through ups and downs, as they had to deal with a large amount of injuries and being overlooked as one of the top teams in the country.
On the opposite, they had much success in early season meets.
"When we placed only two points behind Amherst (ranked No. 1 all fall) at the Williams Invitational we realized that we really did have a shot at our goals," senior Allison Busby said.
Busby led the Lady Cards with an eighth place, All-American finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.
This brought the Cardinal women to forefront of the women's Division III rankings. They kept climbing until they reached a fifth place plateau the week before the championships.
Things may have even been better if there weren't as many injuries.
"In terms of development, the season would have been close to perfect if it weren't for injuries," senior Jen Taft said.
Throughout the course of the season five of the Cardinals' top seven runners were injured, changing the development of the team.
"Allison, Toni, Alyssa, Brittney and I all got hurt within about a week of each other," Taft said. "Luckily everyone was able to recover enough to race at regionals and nationals."
And recover they did.
They tied for first with Geneseo State at the Atlantic Regional Championships to qualify for NCAAs. Their second place finish at the NCAA Championships was the highest team finish ever for PSUC.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
jackie
posted 12/05/07 @ 10:48 AM EST
AWESOME JOB GIRLS!! THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE FRONT PAGE!!
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