PHILADELPHIA WINS SECOND STRAIGHT CACC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TITLE
PHILADELPHIA, PA (October 24, 2009) - Philadelphia University placed five runners in the top 15 to win its second consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Cross Country Championship today at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia. The Lady Rams totaled 31 points, ahead of runner-up Georgian Court University (61), Dominican College (122), University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (129) and Wilmington University (129).
Philadelphia put four runners among the top 10 in sophomores Sarah Simonetti (second, 20:18.61), Anjelica DiNucci (fourth, 20:25.09), Gabrielle Dei Tos (sixth, 21:31.88) and senior Faith Anderson (seventh, 21:32.81). Junior Kaitlin O'Leary also earned All-Conference accolades by placing 12th in 21:50.99. The first 15 finishers earned All-CACC honors.
The meet champion for the second straight season was Wilmington senior Danielle Burcham, who crossed the finish line in 19:52.68. She was the only runner to break 20 minutes on the soggy grounds of Belmont Plateau.
CACC Rookie of the Year Justine Berger led Georgian Court to its runner-up finish with a third-place showing in a time of 20:20.15. Also earning All-Conference honors for the Lions were junior Amy Gutierrez in 10th place and freshman Allison Landry in 15th place. They ran times of 21:48.03 and 22:05.66, respectively.
Dominican College made the biggest improvement from last season, finishing third after being eighth a year ago, and totaling 100 fewer points in the process. The Lady Chargers were led by freshman Julia Miller, who crossed in eighth place with a 21:35.51 clocking.
Wilmington head coach Keith Jones picked up CACC Coach of the Year accolades, while Georgian Court was given the annual Team Sportsmanship Award.
The CACC schools will now await the NCAA Division II East Region Championship, which will take place in Boston on November 8.
CACC Awards
Runner of the Year: Danielle Burcham, Wilmington
Rookie of the Year: Justine Berger, Georgian Court
Coach of the Year: Keith Jones, Wilmington
Team Sportsmanship Award: Georgian Court