Garnet Harriers Ready to Spring
After the Garnet women's cross country placed four runners in the top-50 at last season's Mid-East Regional Meet the team hopes to place that same number in the top-25 with this year's crew. They have their sights set on Nationals as they nearly missed qualifying for the meet in 2007 by just one place. In the coaches' pre-season poll released by the Centennial Conference, Swarthmore was picked to finish fifth. The Garnet harriers aim to surpass that projection, as well as their fourth-place finish in 2007 for a Conference Championship. The national pundits feel the Swarthmore women are up to the challenge, ranking the team 27th in all of Division III in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Division III Cross Country National Poll released on Tuesday.
Leading the team will be three all-conference performers Nyika Corbett '10 (Myrtle Point, OR / Myrtle Point), Ashley Davies '10 (New Providence, N.J. / Hunterdon Central) and Emma Stanley '09 (Fogelsville, Pa. / Parkland). A two-time All-Conference and All-Mid East Performer, Stanley will use her senior leadership experience to help the team achieve their goals. Corbett and Davies will set the pace for the Garnet when they hit the trails this season. Corbett has also been twice All-Mid East Region and was a national qualifier in 2006.
Seniors Kathy Feeney (Staatsburg, N.Y. / FDR), Faith Pampel (Little Silver, N.J. / Red Bank Regional) and Bess Ritter (Quaker Hill, Conn. / Waterford) provide key contributing points at the weekly meets but also take their core roles as play makers of the team. Junior Lauren DeLuca (Audubon, Pa. / Kennedy-Kendrick) as well as sophomores Chelsea Brett (Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Trinity), Ada Okun (New York City, N.Y. / Stuyvesant), Caitlin Russell (Mountain View, Calif. / Los Altos) and Rebecca Woo (Davis, Calif. / Davis Senior) will bring much added depth to the roster. Coach Carroll has also brought in several first-years eager to show their speed on the course.
On August 30th; the Garnet travel to the Delaware Valley Invitational starting at 10:30 a.m. The team will return home on September 12th for the annual Alumnae Meet, set to begin at 12:00.