Dec. 9, 2004

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

2004 Year in Review

Saint Joseph's women's cross country team completed yet another successful season, led by senior captain Colleen Flanagan. Flanagan was a consistently strong performer in 2004, finishing every race in the top three for the Hawks. Flanagan narrowly missed All-Atlantic 10 honors with an 11th place finish at the conference championships, but was back two weeks later to finish strong at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships in State College, Pa. The Hawk women started the season with a 2-3 showing at the Duquesne Duals in Pittsburgh, Pa. Freshman Adrienne Beltz was a pleasant surprise for Head Coach Kevin Quinn, as she finished first for the Hawks and fourth overall. Beltz received Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors for her performance. Following closely behind Beltz were sophomore Suzie McHenry and Flanagan, finishing ninth and tenth respectively. The following week the Hawks competed at the 26th annual Spiked Shoe Invitational at Penn State. Again, Beltz led the Hawks finishing seventh overall, and earning her second A-10 Rookie of the Week honor. In addition to Beltz, two other Hawks finished in the top 25, sophomore Suzie McHenry placed 17th overall followed by Flanagan who finished 25th. Rounding out the top five were sophomores Renee Spangler and Maddie Bell. The Hawks placed sixth overall in a field of 17 teams. Two weeks later, the Hawks traveled to Lehigh to compete in the 31st annual Paul Short Invitational. Flanagan was the top Hawk runner, placing 55th overall, as the Saint Joseph's women's cross country team placed 19th in the 26 team Division I field. She was followed by Renee Spangler and Suzie McHenry and who placed 104th and 109th. The first week of October Coach Quinn split his squad with each contingent turning in moderate results, racing at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday and the La Salle Invitational on Saturday. SJU finished eighth of 19 teams at ND and seventh of 14 squads at La Salle. Flanagan led the Hawk's at Notre Dame with a fifth place finish in the field of 132. SJU added two other runners in the top 50 as Suzie McHenry placed 22nd and Renee Spangler finished 48th. Back in Philadelphia, Marcy DeLorenzo was the Hawk's top finisher placing 15th overall. Mary Crossin ran second for SJU to finish 25th. In mid October, the Hawks competed at the Lafayette Invitational. SJU finished third with Flanagan leading the Hawks, placing 10th overall in 21:50. Following right behind Flanagan was sophomore Suzie McHenry who finished the 6k course in 21:53. Ann Marie Regan showed she was back in top form as the Hawks' third finisher, placing 36th overall. The Hawks wrapped up their season finishing sixth overall at the Atlantic 10 Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa. Flanagan and McHenry narrowly missed All-Conference honors, placing 11th and 13th overall. Also scoring for SJU were senior Jackie Twomey, who placed 42nd, junior Marcy DeLorenzo, who finished 48th, and senior Erin O'Donnell, who was 54th. The Hawks saw little action in the postseason, with only three runners competing at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. While the women's team hoped to fare better in the conference, the team received solid leadership from its upperclassmen and look forward to their young team stepping up next year.