Aug. 28, 2007

Despite graduating four of their top seven runners, the Hawks return an All-A10 athlete, three veterans, and a strong freshman class to head coach Kevin Quinn's 23rd Saint Joseph's women's cross country team.

The optimistic attitude on the team stems from its enormous potential. The Hawks go into battle with a dozen runners whose goal is to not only build on their 2006 results, but to make sure that 2007 has them near the top of the Atlantic 10.

Junior Andrea Florida leads the pack in 2007 as she did in 2006. Buoyed by her 13th place finish in the Atlantic 10 Championship in Pittsburgh, Florida lead the Hawks in the last four races, including an 8th place finish at Lafayette.

Returning to the fold is senior captain Adriene Beltz, who redshirted the 2006 season with a recurring hip injury that has hampered her running since freshman year. Beltz's solid and healthy outdoor track season is a positive sign as she hopes to regain a top spot for the Hawks.

Other veterans who provided a great lift to the team last year were juniors Amy Rhein and Juli Stensland, as well as sophomore Caitlin Reusche. Rhein, the team's Most Improved last season, was the team's fourth runner for much of the 2006 season. Her top finish was 39th at Lafayette and she backed that up with a 43rd place posting at A-10s.

Stensland's steady improvement in 2006 started from being outside of the top seven to the scoring five at A-10s and NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals is just another reason for the optimism surrounding the squad. Reusche was steady as the seventh and eighth runner on the team for much of the 2006 campaign and will compete for the top seven again.

Junior Katie Pencek and sophomores Anna Cushing and Samantha Seitter have the opportunity to make a move on the team, building on their experiences from 2006 and possibly grabbing a top-seven spot.

Along with the returnees, a quartet of sub-20 minute 5K runners will toe the line in 2007, highlighted by the additions of a former Pennsylvania State Champion and New Jersey All-State runner to bolster the roster.

Aimee Chegwidden and Christina Morelli boast impressive profiles from high school. Chegwidden was the New Jersey Section 1, Group 2 Champion and finished 25th in the New Jersey Meet of Champions. Morelli was the 2004 Pennsylvania AA State Champion and was All-State in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

The other two freshmen, Laura Faller and Jessica Di Cicco were solid runners in high school and are expected to contribute at Saint Joseph's. Faller finished in the top 40 at the 2006 Pennsylvania AAA Meet, running 19:15, and Di Cicco was a former top-five New Jersey Sectional runner.

The Hawks have a veteran core complimented by a fresh pack of talented runners and should compete in every race this season. If the improvements of 2006 roll over to 2007, the Hawks will challenge for a high Atlantic 10 Championship finish at Belmont Plateau.