Merritt runs to top finish in debut as Tigers start season with solid performances

REDLANDS, Calif. (Sept. 12, 2009) – In her first collegiate race, a 4500 meter run, Pheobe Merritt ran ahead of all other athletes as the women placed second at the 2009 Redlands Invitational.

Entering the 2009 campaign, head coach Rob Bartlett stressed the importance of the Tiger women running as a pack. Today, they did just that with three runners finishing in the top-10 and a trio finishing 14-15-16.

While Merritt turned in a 17:08 performance, sophomore Sadie Mohler and senior Grace Peck completed the course just seconds apart at 18:14 and 18:16, respectively, for eighth and tenth places. Meghan Walen used a year of experience to her advantage as she ran a time of 18:24. Right on her heels was the freshman-sophomore pair of Tara Saxena and Eliza Dornbush who literally ran step-for-step as they both finished in 18:30.

Rounding out the scoring for the Tigers today was sophomore Claire Larson (18:56).

Appearing in black and orange for the first time were Sally Landfeld, Deanna Dupuy, Rachel Siebert, and Hailey Mayer.

Occidental will be back on the course next weekend as they compete as a split-squad with the top seven finishers from today traveling to the Sundoger Invitational hosted by the University of Washington while the rest of the team will test their speed at the UC Riverside Invitational.