Tuesday, November 14, 2000
GREYHOUNDS TO RUN AT NATIONALS FOR 8TH STRAIGHT YEAR
BETHLEHEM, PA --- With their first place finish at last weekend's NCAA Division III Mideast
Regional hosted by Dickinson College, the Moravian College women's cross country team has
qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships for the eighth straight season.
The Greyhounds, which have also won eight consecutive Middle Atlantic Conference Championships,
are one of three teams that will represent the Mideast Region at the national meet to be
hosted by the Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington this Saturday, November 18th. In
its last seven appearances in the national race, Moravian, which is coached by Mark
Will-Weber, has finished in the top ten four times. The best finish for the Greyhounds
was in 1993, the last time Moravian won the regional meet, and 1995 when the squad was
third overall. Moravian has also finished fourth in 1994, the year the Bethlehem
school hosted the national meet, eighth in 1997 in Boston, MA, 13th in 1996,
14th in 1998 and 20th last fall in Wisconsin.
Leading this year's team is a pair of juniors Heidi Wolfsberger (Moosic/ Riverside
HS) and Emily Shertzer (Hummelstown/Lower Dauphin HS). Wolfsberger won
both the Mideast Regional race and the MAC Championship with a time of 18:17, the first
time since 1994 a Moravian runner had won both races. She has won her last four
races and been in the top five of all seven meets she competed in this season. Shertzer
also earned All-Region and All-MAC accolades for the second straight season after placing
fourth in the regional and second in the MAC meet. Shertzer's best time of the
year was 18:40.60 at the regional.
Moravian had two other runners earn All-MAC and All-Mideast Region honors. Junior Kim
Jaick (Coopersburg/Southern Lehigh HS) was sixth at the Mideast Regional in a season
best 18:48.20 and placed third at the MAC Championships. Junior Erin Boyle (Philadelphia/Nazareth
Academy) also ran her best time of the year last weekend in Mideast Regional at 19:01.40,
good enough for tenth place. Boyle finished fifth in the MAC meet.
Rounding out the top seven for the Greyhounds this season have been senior Hannah Wood
(Palm/ Upper Perkiomen HS), sophomore Jen Wagner (Riegelsville/Wilson HS) and
freshman Ashley Kimmet (Bethlehem/ Bethlehem Catholic HS). Wood was an All-MAC
runner, placing seventh in the MAC at 20:03.18 and she was 63rd in the regional race. Wagner,
whose best time of the season is 20:13.18, was 12th in the MAC meet and 51st in the Mideast
Regional. Kimmet just missed All-Region honors in the Mideast Regional, placing
36th in 20:09.40 and she was 14th in the MAC race.
|