June 26, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - Featuring a solid core of young harriers, Saint Joseph's celebrated the women's cross country program's silver anniversary in 2005 with another solid campaign. Junior co-captain Suzie McHenry served as the team's catalyst providing a reliable front-runner who could set the tone for the Hawks' youthful nucleus.

McHenry was the top finisher for the Hawks in all but two races during the season. She finished second for the Hawks at the Atlantic 10 Championships placing 19th overall narrowly missing All-Conference honors. Her best finishes came at the season-opening Haverford Invitational where she topped the field and turned in a sixth place finish at the Penn State Spike Shoe Invitational.

Besides McHenry, freshman Andrea Florida provided the team with its most pleasant surprise emerging as an All-Conference performer. Turning in strong performances throughout the year, Florida garnered All-League honors by finishing first for the Hawks and placing 14th overall at the A-10 Championships on Belmont Plateau. She also was the team's top finisher at the the Mid-Atlantic Regionals.

As a team, the Hawks started their season close to home at the Haverford Invitational. The three-mile race was a good warm up for the season. McHenry took first place at the meet, setting the tone for the season. The Co-Captain went on to be the to finisher for the Hawks.

The following week found the Hawks competing on the Van Cortlandt Park's challenging 5K course in the Bronx at the Fordham Invitational in Bronx, NY. SJU finished seventh out of 19 teams with McHenry leading the way and Florida not far behind.

Getting into the heart of the season, the Hawks traveled to Penn State for the Spiked Shoe Invitational which annually features the best teams from Pennsylvania and Western New York. The Crimson and Gray earned a fifth-place finish among 16 teams. McHenry earned a sixth place finish out of 201 runners and Florida showed another strong performance finishing 17th.

With the Atlantic 10 Championships looming, the Hawks branched out to take on more national and regional level competition at the prestigious Paul Short and National Invitationals. The Paul Short in Bethlehem, Pa. pitted the Hawks against a field of 47 schools. The team split in two, competing in both the college and open races, and both groups held their own with McHenry and Florida placing first and second for the College Hawks and Nguyen and MacCready leading the Open Hawks. Two weeks later, the Hawks were back in State College for the Penn State National Invitational. The team of McHenry and Florida were again the first ones to finish the 6k course for the Hawks with times of 22:50 and 23:01 respectively.

Primed for contention, Saint Joseph's returned home as Philadelphia hosted the Atlantic 10 Championships on the Hawks' home course at Belmont Plateau. Sparked by a 14th place finish from Florida, who became the first Hawk to receive All-League recognition since 2003, SJU placed seventh overall. Narrowly missing All-Conference was McHenry who finished 19th overall. Classmate Rebecca Powell ran third for the Hawks placing 29th. Junior Renee Spangler, sophomore Adrienne Beltz, senior Marcy DeLorenzo and junior Maddie Bell rounded out the team's scorers.

The team closed out the season at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships with a 19th place finish as Florida placed 65th in a field of 182 runners.