Diplomats Place 11th at 2004 NCAA Mid-East Region Women's Cross Country Championship

by Sports Information
11/13/04

ALLEGHENY, PA – Meredith Janeczek (So., Hershey, PA/Hershey) crossed the finish line in 23:35 to place 25th and earn All-Region honors as the Franklin & Marshall College women’s cross country team finished 11th of 43 teams at the NCAA Mid-East Region Championships hosted by Allegheny College.

Historically, Janeczek is the first F&M harrier to earn All-Region honors since Erin Carlson '01, Stephanie Stroud '00 and Lorin Lafemina '00 earned All-Region honors at the 1999 Regional Championships while leading the Diplomats to a fifth place finish.

Karen Ziga (So., Haverford, PA/Haverford) was the last Franklin & Marshall runner honored at a regional championship as she earned All-Freshmen regional honors at the 2003 Mid-East race hosted by Dickinson College.

The finish marked a dramatic improvement of nearly three minutes for Janeczek, who finished 118th at the 2003 Mid-East race in a time of 26:08, and F&M which had finished out of the Top 15 the last four seasons (2000 – 23, 2001 – 17, 2002 – 20, 2003 – 18).

Behind Janeczek, Ziga finished 40th in 24:02, Colette Buchanan (Fr., Hershey, PA/Hershey) 82nd in 24:59, Megan Feehan (Jr., West Chester, PA/Henderson) 85th in 25:04, Shannon Weir (Fr., Villanova, PA/Upper Merion) 124th in 25:59, Jayme Ewanichak (Fr., Haddon Heights, NJ/Bishop Eustace) 125th in 26:02 and Amy Toporowski (Sr., Montgomery, MA/Williston Northampton) 172nd in 27:16.

Overall, DeSales Gina Lucrezi captured the individual title in 22:00, five seconds ahead of Dickinson’s Emily Hulme (22:05). Allegheny won the team title with 99 points, while Dickinson (138), Elizabethtown (140), Haverford (197) and Grove City (210) rounded out the top five teams.

Complete results are available online at http://www.allegheny.edu/athletics/crosscountry/meetweb/results.html

TOP 20 TEAM SCORES
1. Allegheny 99
2. Dickinson 138
3. Elizabethtown 140
4. Haverford 197
5. Grove City 210
6. Moravian 215
7. Swarthmore 233
8. Gettysburg 264
9. Muhlenberg 329
10. Salisbury 344
11. F&M 356
12. Messiah 356
13. PSU-Behrend 405
14. Susquehanna 427
15. Waynesburg 427
16. Juniata 439
17. Johns Hopkins 462
18. Scranton 464
19. Bryn Mawr 482
20. DeSales 503

F&M FINISHERS
25. Meredith Janeczek 23:35
40. Karen Ziga 24:02
82. Colette Buchanan 24:59
85. Megan Feehan 25:04
124. Shannon Weir 25:59
125. Jayme Ewanichak 26:02
172. Amy Toporowski 27:16