HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison women's cross country won the 2012 JMU Open Invitational Saturday morning behind six top 10 finishes, including a first-place finish by senior Katie Gorman (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh).
Gorman finished the 5-kilometer run at New Market Battlefield in 18:56.5 to clinch the victory. Her time was 4.5 seconds ahead of Mary Baldwin's Sophia Stone, who finished second.
Two seniors from Virginia Beach, Va., rounded out the top five for the Dukes. Stacey Nobles came in third place with a time of 19:12.5, and Annie Reiner placed fifth, finishing in 19:46.3.
In the first home meet of her collegiate career, freshman Jenna Flickinger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) finished just behind Reiner at 19:48.2, earning her sixth place.
Sophomores Tiel Westbrook (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) and Kristen Landry (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) battled for the final team-scoring position of the day, with Westbrook just edging Landry for the eighth-place finish. Westbrook ran the course in 19:55.6 while Landry crossed the finish line at 19:55.9.
The Dukes finished with 23 points (1, 3, 5, 6, 8) on the day, winning them first place in the women's race. Second place went to VMI with 52 team points (4, 10, 11, 13, 14), and Longwood took third with 96 points (7, 17, 22, 23, 27).
For the men, VMI took the team victory with 20 points (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) behind four top five finishes. The individual victory, however, went to Skeeter Morris who participated in the race unattached. Howard came in second with 46 points (1, 8, 9, 13, 15). Longwood picked up a second third-place finish with 75 points (10, 14, 16, 17, 18).
JMU will take next weekend off before the 'A' squad heads for the Roy Griak Inviational in Minneapolis, Minn., and the 'B' squad heads for the George Mason Invitational in Oatlands, Va. Both meets will be held on Saturday, September 29.
Women's Team Scores
1. James Madison University 23 points
2. Virginia Military Institute 52 points
3. Longwood University 96 points
4. Southern Virginia University 113 points
5. Howard University 131 points
6. Mary Baldwin College 134 points
Women's Top-10 Finishes
1. Katie Gorman, JMU 18:56.5
2. Sophia Stone, Mary Baldwin 19:01.0
3. Stacey Nobles, JMU 19:12.5
4. Jenna Moye, VMI 19:38.6
5. Annie Reiner, JMU 19:46.3
6. Jenna Flickinger, JMU 19:48.2
7. Alisha Royal, Longwood 19:48.9
8. Tiel Westbrook, JMU 19:55.6
9. Kristen Landry, JMU 19:55.9
10. Natalie Young, VMI 20:08.0
Other JMU Runners
12. Kelsey Langton, sophomore 20:31.3
13. Kathleen Stewart, freshman 20:34.3
15. Rachel Hagen, sophomore 20:53.2
17. Jacki Ferrance, senior 21:01.7
18. Erin Lopresti, junior 21:05.5
20. Morgan Sheaffer, sophomore 21:37.8
21. Emily Cole, freshman 21:41.9
34. Laura Dobbs, freshman 22:57.2
.
