Sept. 10, 2005
• Results
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Junior Justine Whipple (Duxbury, Mass.) placed 14th out of 210 overall runners as the Navy women's cross country team finished fourth of 19 teams at the Fordham Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday. In their season opener, the Midshipmen were only bested by invitational champion Princeton, Providence and Yale.
"We had a great meet," commented head coach Karen Boyle. "This was a great way to start off the season."
Whipple, who led all Navy runners for the first time in her career, covered the 5K course in 19:02. Her 14th-place showing marked the fifth time during her career that she landed in the overall top-15 of a meet.
"She (Justine Whipple) came back in great shape," said Boyle. "She had a really good start and had the strength in the back hills to finish strong."
Only six seconds behind Whipple was fellow junior Erin Demchko (Nanuet, N.Y.), who finished in 24th-place with 19:08 effort. Junior Emily Castro (Centennial, Colo.) posted a time of 19:11 to place 26th, while junior Allison Barlow (Orange Park, Fla.) finished the race in 19:17 to land in 34th-place and freshman Maureen Dooley (Durham, Conn.) placed 44th with a 19:31 showing to round out Navy's top-five.
Sophomores Vicki Moore (Burke, Va.) and Kyleigh Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.) served as place-holders for the Midshipmen. Moore completed the race in 19:40 to finish 50th overall and Millhouse placed 58th with a time of 19:58.
"They all packed up really well today," Boyle stated. "With over 200 runners, we did a great job staying in contact with teammates."
Navy next hosts its only home meet of the season, the Salty Sea Dog Open, on Saturday, September 17 at the USNA Cross County Course. The meet is slated to start at 11:30 a.m.
