Women's Cross Country to Start Season September 9
9/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
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| Team Captain, Jamie Flood |
This fall, the Falcons' senior women are C1Cs Jaime Flood and Dalia Wenckus. Flood, who is the cross-country team captain, was the top finisher for the Falcons at last year's Mountain Region championships. Stanforth will count on her to be the team's leader both on and off the course. Wenckus will be one of the captains for the women's track and field team in 2001 and should be a consistent top-five performer in cross country. Another, senior C1C Kristen Thompson, from Anaheim, Calif., will also run with the varsity. Thompson led the Falcons in the Rocky Mountain Shootout last year with a time of 26:28. C2Cs (Jr.) Lara Coppinger and Sara Kinney are returning for their third cross-country season. Stanforth is depending on them to be major contributors to the team's success. Coppinger was injured most of last year and was unable to build on her good freshman season when she was a regular top seven performer. Last year, Kinney, who had a return to her level of success as a freshman when she was the top Falcon in several meets, had here best finish of the season at the MWC meet where she ran sixth for the team and finished 36th. Both Coppinger and Kinney will give a big boost to the team this fall.
Stanforth also has a solid group of third class cadets returning to the team, they are sophomores, Tracy Denaro and Sarah Malberg who both took a turn in the top five throughout last season and should do so again this year. Elissa Ballas, who red-shirted last fall after transferring from Ohio State, returns this year and is ready to contribute to the team's successes.
The women's team has an impressive group of recruits joining it. C4Cs (Fr.) Stephanie Cornell, from Longwood, Fla., will lead the freshman. Cornell was third in the Florida state cross-country meet in her junior year. In track, she ran a personal record of 2:15.47 in the state track championships and finished fifth. Ann Chumlea, Enon, Ohio, Kelly McPherson, Mildenhall AFB, England and Jean Taylor, Florissant, MO, all have PR's in the 5:10 range and should be competitive right away. Brandess Pardue, of Aurora, Colo., was a state qualifier in cross country and should help the team as well. Her best times in high school were 1:02.1 and 2:22.
Next Week: September 16, the varsity team will compete in the Woody Greeno Invitational, Lincoln, Neb., at 10:00 a.m. The junior varsity will travel to Denver, Colo., for the DU Invitational held at Kent High School at 10 a.m.
