[Kutztown Press Release] WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY HEADS TO NATIONALS

[Josh Leiboff]

 November 17, 2006
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY HEADS TO NATIONALS

KUTZTOWN, PA - The Kutztown University (KU) women's cross country team will travel to Pensacola, FL to participate in the NCAA Championships on Saturday November, 18. 

The Golden Bears are coming off of their first ever East Regional Championship.  Two weeks prior, they matched their best ever finish at the PSAC Championships, finishing second and, therefore, are ranked 12th in the most recent release of the national standings.  In addition, ninth year head coach, Ray Hoffman, was named East Region Women's Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).  

This year's squad is led by junior Stephanie Williams (Harrisburg/Riverside).  She is having her best season to date.  Williams finished second in the season opening Lehigh Valley Championships and followed that with her first place finish at the KU Invitational.  She finished ninth at PSAC's and earned All-Conference honors.  She followed that with All-Region honors resulting from her fifth place finish at regionals.  She looks to improve on a 155th place finish at last year's national meet.

Joanna Horstmann (so. Downingtown/Downingtown West) began with back-to-back third place finishes.  Overall, she had four top-10 finishes.  At PSAC's, she finished seventh and earned All-PSAC honors.  She improved one spot at regionals, finishing sixth, and earned All-Region honors.  At last year's nationals, Horstmann finished 60th, which was second on the team.

Desiree Bower (sr. Bethel/Tulpehocken) earned All-PSAC honors with her 14th place finish at PSAC's and earned All-Region honors with her ninth place finish at regionals.  She has two top-10 finishes and ran her best time of 22:00.8 at the Paul Short Invitational.  She will look to improve on her 90th place finish at last season's nationals.

Maureen Watson (fr. Walnutport/Allentown Central Catholic) is in her first season with the team.  She has posted steady times all year, which has translated into three top-20 finishes.  She placed 21st at the PSAC Championships and earned All-Region honors with her 13th place finish at regionals.

Chelsea Thomas (sr. Sellersville/Pennridge) has four top-20 finishes this season, including her season best 11th place finish at the season opening Lehigh Valley Championships.  She finished 18th at regionals and 17th at PSAC's, which earned her All-Conference honors.  She finished 124th at last year's national meet.  

Cheryl Dingman (so. Lansdale/North Penn) began the season with consecutive sixth place finishes.  After running her season best time of 21:33.3 at the Lafayette Invitational, Dingman placed 29th at PSAC's, 30th at regionals and looks to improve on last year's 100th place finish at nationals.

Lauren Ayers (fr. Ocean Township, NJ/Ocean Township) will be competing at nationals for the first time.  In her inaugural season, Ayers has two top-20 finishes, including her 19th and 15th place finishes at the first two meets, respectively.  She finished 51st at the PSAC Championships and 61st at regionals.

This season, the Golden Bears have compiled seven top-10 finishes and five top-five finishes, including two titles and two runner-up finishes.  At last year's nationals, KU recorded its best ever finish placing 15th out of 24 teams and will look to improve upon that at this year's meet.

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Josh Leiboff
Kutztown University Sports Information
Phone: (610) 683-4182
Fax: (610) 683-4676
Email: leiboff at kutztown.edu
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