Janeczek, Ziga & Figueroa Rank Among Top 20 in October 12 CC Women's XC Coaches Rankings

by Sports Information
10/13/04

LANCASTER, PA -- Franklin & Marshall College harriers Meredith Janeczek (So., Hershey, PA/Hershey), Karen Ziga (So., Haverford, PA/Haverford) and Yanira Figueroa (Sr., Mount Vernon, NY/Tuckahoe) are ranked among the Top 20 in the October 12 Centennial Conference Women's Cross Country Coaches Rankings.

A member of the October 12 Centennial Conference Women's Cross Country Honor Roll, Janeczek moved down two spots from fourth as she is now ranked sixth in the Conference behind Dickinson's Emily Hulme, Swarthmore's Sarah Hobbes, Bryn Mawr's Joanna Simonis and Melissa Leedle and Dickinson's Abigail Ferguson.

At the Goucher College Invitational on October 9, she finished first in 19:54.45, one spot ahead of Ziga who crossed the line second in 20:04.17, as the Franklin & Marshall College women's cross country team totaled 30 points to win invitational.

The meet was historical for the Diplomats as it marked the first invitational win by a Franklin & Marshall College women's cross country team since 1993 when F&M won the Salisbury University Tidewater Invitational on October 16 and the Little Three Championships (F&M 27, Gettysburg 30/ F&M 25, Dickinson 30) on November 3.

Individually, Janeczek's victory marked her second of the season as crossed the finish line in 24:05 over the six-kilometer course at the McDaniel Invitational to finish first. Her pair of victories mark the first time an F&M women's cross country runner has finished first in two invitationals in the same season since Jamie Kendig '96 accomplished the feat at the Davis & Elkins (21:17) and Dickinson (18:45) Invitationals during the 1994 season. Historically, Kendig also finished first at the Centennial Conference Championships (18:57) and Little Three Championships (19:08) before placing sixth at the NCAA Regionals (19:20) and 64th at the NCAA Championships (19:14.0).

Ziga, who remained slipped to 15th in the CC rankings after being 13th last week, and Figueroa, who moved from 14th to 15th place, round out F&M's representation in the poll.

Compiled by Bryn Mawr coach Dan Talbot the rankings are a weekly predictor of placement at the Centennial Conference Championship set for October 30 at McDaniel College.

Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on October 30 at the Centennial Conference Championships hosted by McDaniel College.