HARRISONBURG, Va. - The James Madison cross country team tied Baylor for eighth place among 17 teams in the Women's Gold Division I event at the Roy Griak Invitational. The 6,000-meter race was held at the Les Bolstad Cross Country Course in Minneapolis, Minn. on Saturday afternoon.
The Dukes were led by seniors Katie Harman (Clarksville, Md./River Hill), Katie Gorman (Lafayette Hill, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) and Stacey Nobles (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes). The senior trio finished within 30 seconds of each other in the 23rd minute of the race. Harman crossed the finish line at 22:00.8 in 24th place, Gorman followed at 22:20.6 in 38th place and Nobles rounded out the JMU top three at 22:27.7 for 43rd. There were 211 runners entered in the race.
Three more Dukes completed the run in less than 24 minutes. Sophomore Kristen Landry (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) came in 94th place with a time of 23:28.6, freshman Jenna Flickinger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) took 99th place with a 23:32.7 time and senior Annie Reiner (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) finished in 108th place with a time of 23:40.9.
Sophomore Rachel Hagen (Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) rounded out the seven scoring positions for JMU. Hagen completed the race in 24:11.1 to take 128th place in the race. Madison scored 253 total points on the day.
Iowa State took first place in the meet with 47 team points, including an individual first-place finish by senior Betsy Saina and second-place finish by senior Meaghan Nelson. Weber State placed second with a team score of 82, led by junior Amber Henry with a third-place finish and senior Sarah Callister with a fifth-place finish. Host Minnesota rounded out the top three teams in third place with 86 points. The Gophers were led by a third-place individual finish by junior Laura Docherty.
JMU will return to the course on Oct. 13. The 'A' squad will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Chili Pepper Invitational, and the 'B' squad will head to the William and Mary Open in Williamsburg, Va.
Top-10 Team Scores
1. Iowa State 47
2. Weber State 82
3. Minnesota 86
4. Connecticut 88
5. University of Guelph 135
6. Portland 183
7. Boise State 189
8. Baylor 253
James Madison 253
10. Utah Valley 279
JMU Finishes
24. Katie Harman, senior 22:00.8
38. Katie Gorman, senior 22:20.6
43. Stacey Nobles, senior 22:27.7
94. Kristen Landry, sophomore 23:28.6
99. Jenna Flickinger, freshman 23:32.7
108. Annie Reiner, senior 23:40.9
128. Rachel Hagen, sophomore 24:11.1
156. Kathleen Stewart, freshman 24:47.7
160. Kelsey Langton, sophomore 24:54.2
192. Tiel Westbrook, sophomore 26:34.1
