2008 Woodie Awards
Kennedy and Tolli Lead Cross Country in Boston
Edouard Boulat
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Sports
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In their penultimate meets of the season, then men's and women's cross-country teams competed at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship last weekend, held at Franklin Park in Boston. Both teams had solid performances, featuring countless personal feats. The women's team placed 12th overall out of 36 teams, one spot better than predicted by its regional ranking. Colgate defeated New Hampshire and Quinnipiac for the first time under Head Coach Laura Nardelli and placed five spots better than last year.
"It was good to beat teams we were supposed to and some we weren't supposed to," Nardellli said. "It was really nice to beat Dartmouth who we recruit against a lot."
Leading the charge was senior Elizabeth Kennedy, who "had the race of her life" according to Nardelli. She placed 25th with a time of 21:30 and averaged five minutes and 47 seconds per mile. Also, she placed the highest of any Colgate runner at this event during Nardelli's tenure. First-year runner Stacey Marion also had a solid race, finishing 43rd overall with a time of 21:50. Marion was the ninth-fastest first-year competitor in the field and was followed closely by senior Kathryn Marvel, as well as, juniors Kristen Kiraly and Jessica Kielty. All three ran personal-best times and placed 81st, 84th and 86th, respectively. Marvel dropped 2:29 from her performance at this meet last season, while Kiraly shed 1:10 off her time and Kielty dropped 1:49 off her 2006 Northeast Regional Championship race. But if one really wants to know how much the Raiders improved from last season, consider this: Liz Crowley '07 finished the 2006 NCAA Northeast Regional Championship with a time of 23:22, which led all Colgate runners. This year, a whopping six Raiders eclipsed that mark.
"I'm really excited about the improvement we've made over the last couple of years. Having all the kids run one to two-minute personal bests is something special," Nardelli said. "They're all proud to wear the Colgate jersey and it shows."
"It was good to beat teams we were supposed to and some we weren't supposed to," Nardellli said. "It was really nice to beat Dartmouth who we recruit against a lot."
Leading the charge was senior Elizabeth Kennedy, who "had the race of her life" according to Nardelli. She placed 25th with a time of 21:30 and averaged five minutes and 47 seconds per mile. Also, she placed the highest of any Colgate runner at this event during Nardelli's tenure. First-year runner Stacey Marion also had a solid race, finishing 43rd overall with a time of 21:50. Marion was the ninth-fastest first-year competitor in the field and was followed closely by senior Kathryn Marvel, as well as, juniors Kristen Kiraly and Jessica Kielty. All three ran personal-best times and placed 81st, 84th and 86th, respectively. Marvel dropped 2:29 from her performance at this meet last season, while Kiraly shed 1:10 off her time and Kielty dropped 1:49 off her 2006 Northeast Regional Championship race. But if one really wants to know how much the Raiders improved from last season, consider this: Liz Crowley '07 finished the 2006 NCAA Northeast Regional Championship with a time of 23:22, which led all Colgate runners. This year, a whopping six Raiders eclipsed that mark.
"I'm really excited about the improvement we've made over the last couple of years. Having all the kids run one to two-minute personal bests is something special," Nardelli said. "They're all proud to wear the Colgate jersey and it shows."
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