Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Big things are expected from the Swarthmore women’s cross country team in 2011, as the Garnet – fresh off a fourth place finish at the 2010 Centennial Conference Championship meet – returns its top five Conference finishers as well as two All-Region performers.
Leading the way for the Garnet in 2011 are Hannah Rose ’12 and Emma Saarel ’14. Both earned All-Region honors for their performance at the NCAA Mideast Regionals, and the duo hopes to lead the program to new levels of success after the team spent nearly the entire 2010 season in the regional rankings and just missed out on a season-ending national ranking. Saarel, one of the premier high school distance runners in Utah prior to her matriculation, turned in an impressive freshman campaign, finishing 13th place at the Centennial Conference Championship meet (22:39) to earn second-team All-Conference honors. Rose saved her best for the NCAA Regionals, finishing 22nd overall in a time of 23:12.
Junior Rebecca Hammond will be counted on to finish in the Garnet top five after posting a strong finish in the Centennial Championship meet last season (23:12).Katie Gonzalez ’12 and Stephanie Bebee ’12 – gold medalists in the 4×800 at last spring’s Centennial Championships – will also be expected to make an impact on the trail this year.
The Garnet opens competition at the Bryn Mawr Invite on September 2. Appearances at the Paul Short Invite on September 30 at Lehigh and Seven Sisters, hosted by Bryn Mawr, on October 15, highlight the 2011 schedule
Women’s Cross Country
1. Johns Hopkins (9)……….81
2. Dickinson (1)…………..73
3. Haverford………………61
4. Swarthmore……………..55
T-5. Franklin & Marshall……43
T-5. Gettysburg……………43
7. Muhlenberg……………..41
8. Ursinus………………..22
9. McDaniel……………….20
10. Bryn Mawr……………..12
Reprinted from August 22th with permission from the Swarthmore Athletics website, here.