Dec. 10, 2004

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD OUTLOOK

The Saint Joseph's women's track team faces a significant loss this year with the departure of assistant coach Maisha Palmer to Vanderbilt University. This mean's Coach Kevin Quinn will be relying heavily on the experience and leadership of his senior track captains Colleen Ladden, Kelly Victory and Mary Crossin. Laden will be working with the sprinters, while Crossin and Victory will be lending their guidance to the mid-distance and distance runners.

Saint Joseph's welcomes back a strong group of sprinters this year, lead by top returnee, junior Andria Smythe. Smythe had an impressive year in 2004, winning the conference in the indoors 60m and outdoor 100m dashes, as well as the outdoor long jump. She also received All-East honors in the indoors 60m dash and the outdoors 100m dash. She currently holds school records for the indoors 60m and 200m and outdoor 100m and 200m. Smythe has also been consistently improving on her jumps and according to Coach Quinn, she is getting close to threatening Donna Crumety's long-standing school records.

Help is expected in the sprints from sophomore Valerie Ramirez, who was unable to compete last year due to injury. A top sprinter in the Catholic League in high school, Ramirez has returned to form and is ready to compete. Also looking to lend support to the sprinters are junior Kate Hoban and freshman Karen Scully.

The Hawks return a very strong group of 400m runners, lead by senior captain Colleen Ladden. Ladden was the spearhead of the 4x400m team last year, which was the first 1600m relay team in SJU history to qualify for the indoor ECAC Championships. The Hawks return most of the members of this record breaking relay team, including sophomores Julie Lentz, Amanda Guthridge, and Stacy Cronin. Freshman Lauren Wallace, the 2004 Delaware State Champion in the 400m, is looking forward to contributing as well.

The 800m group welcomes back two top veteran runners, junior Thuy Nguyen and senior captain Kelly Victory. Nguyen was the indoor and outdoor 800m champion in 2004 and a member of the 4x800m relay team that was awarded All-East honors. She also holds the school record in the indoor 500m. She is joined by Victory who ran the fastest leg on that relay in a blazing 2:12.34. Another key member of that relay team was senior captain Mary Crossin, whose performances have steadily improved every year. Sophomores Rebecca Powell and Erin Kelly, as well as freshman Christine Egan, are also expected to be an important part of this group.

Leading the distance group is All-Conference senior captain Colleen Flanagan and junior Ann Regan. Flanigan posted top times in the 1500m and 3000m last year, and looks to step up her performances again this year. Regan missed all of last year due to injury, but is back strong and ready to again be a top competitor in the 3000m. Sophomores Suzie McHenry and Maddie Bell are also expected to be big contributors to the distance group this year. According to Coach Quinn, we can expect to see some promising performances from sophomore Renee Spangler in the 1500m. Adding their veteran experience to the distance crew are seniors Jackie Twomey, Erin O'Donnell; juniors Gen Story and Marcy DeLorenzo.

Also looking to make lend their support are freshman Kate LoSecco and 2003 PIAA AA Cross Country Champion, Adrienne Beltz. The Hawk women also welcome freshman jumper Jordan Teuber. Teuber is a long and triple jumper and will also be able to lend her talents to the short sprints.

With a very strong front line of people in every event that the Hawk women cover and depth of possible scorers, Coach Quinn is expecting great things from his team this year. The tradition relay teams of the 4x400, 4x800 and the Distance Medley Relay should also again be successful and Quinn looks for them to dominate in the conference this year. Coach Quinn feels that his team is good enough to improve upon their third place finish at the indoor Atlantic 10 Championships this year.