Sports

Triumphant return of Frick boosts XC

In print | November 19, 2009

After having been sidelined with a hip injury, Melissa Frick ’12 returned to the lineup for the women’s cross country team at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship Meet Saturday.

In her first race of the season, Frick led the Garnet to a ninth-place team finish in the 44-team field. Even more impressive than the team finish was the Garnet’s depth — Swarthmore was one of only five teams to land all five scoring runners in the top 75. Frick covered the six-kilometer course in 23:09.2, good for 35th place. Rebecca Woo ’11 came in for Swarthmore in 54th place. Seniors Ashley Davies (63rd, 23:54.7), Nyika Corbett (72nd, 24:01.7) and Lauren DeLuca (74th, 24:02.4) also scored for the Garnet. Missing from the top places was standout Hannah Rose ’12, who ran with a broken foot, finishing in 154th place.

Swarthmore was one of five conference teams to place in the top ten; Johns Hopkins, Dickinson and Haverford swept the top spots. Gettysburg was fifth. Hopkins and Dickinson received automatic bids to the national meet, and Haverford nabbed an at-large berth.

Lebanon Valley junior Jenn Cronin took the individual title in 21:39.2.

The Swarthmore men were led again by an impressive contingent of first-years at the front. Jacob Phillips ’13 crossed first in the 8K for the Garnet in 26:35.1, good enough for 54th place. He was followed by classmates John McMinn and Brian King, who took 60th and 62nd place, respectively. Patrick Hartnett ’11 (27:31.3, 115th) and Aidan Dumont-McCaffrey ’13 (27:51.3, 141th) rounded out the scoring positions for Swarthmore.

The Garnet men finished 14th out of 45 teams in the regional field, just ahead of Muhlenberg, who finished ahead of the Garnet at the Centennial Conference Championships. The conference once again flexed its strength, placing four teams (Haverford, Dickinson, Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg) in the top 10 at the regional meet. Haverford (3rd) and Dickinson (4th) each received at-large bids to the national meet.

Allegheny’s Chris Marker, a junior, won the regional title in 24:54.3.