Tiger Women’s XC takes Seventh behind Peck’s Performance
IRVINE, Calif. (Sept. 6, 2008) – Tigers took the course for the first time in 2008 at the UCI-Asics Cross Country Invitational this morning where they finished seventh as a team, averaging a time of 20:39.12.
Leading the way for the Tiger women was junior Grace Peck who crossed the finish line in eighth place (19:41.50) as the second highest SCIAC finisher on the day (Pomona-Pitzer’s Alicia Freese was second overall).
As anticipated the Oxy freshman, who competed for the first time on the collegiate scene, did not disappoint. Sadie Mohler was the second Tiger to finish, nearly breaking the 20-minute mark as she completed the 5K in 20:29.00. Anna Dalton was right behind finishing in 20:51.10 to break the Top-40 of the 160 woman field.
Occidental had another pair of freshman runners perform well as they stay together throughout the race. Meghan Whalen and Eliza Dornbush finished 52nd and 53rd with times of 21:06.20 and 21:07.80, respectively.
Rounding out the top seven scorers on the day were first-year cross country team member, sophomore, Kassandra Griswold (21:59.10) and freshman Kasey Vaughn (22:40.40). All of the scoring runners for Oxy finished among the top 100 athletes.
Also hitting the course today for the first time in Oxy black and orange was Stefanie Davis.
The women competed without the leadership of First Team All-SCIAC runners Rachel Keylon and Denali Hasley who are both nursing minor injuries.
Southwestern (TX) took the team title away from the meet while Pomona-Pitzer finished second with California Lutheran University just ahead of the Tigers in the six spot.
Occidental College will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 13 at the University of Redlands Invitational.
