October 5, 1998
Bethlehem, Pa. ----- The Villanova University mens and womens cross country teams competed this weekend at the Paul Short Invitational held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. The Wildcat women finished seventh out of 39 teams, while the men tallied a 15th place finish in the 42 team field.
In the womens race, Villanova captured three of the top five places and finished seventh in the team standings with 217 points. Cornell won the womens meet with 118 points, while Big East member West Virginia tallied a second place finish with 159 points.
Leading the way for Villanova was Kristen Nicolini (Sr., Annapolis, Md) who won the race in a time of 17:08.86. This was Nicolinis second individual championship of the season, as she also captured first place honors at the Lafayette Invitational on Sept. 12. Running her first race of the season, All-American Kristine Jost (Sr., Kent Island, Md.) turned in a third place finish in a time of 17:18.55. Carmen Douma (Jr., Cambridge, Ontario) ran well for the Wildcats crossing the line in 17:21.03 to finish in the fifth position.
Ann McGranahan (So., Pensacola, Fla.) was clocked in 17:54.86 and placed 22nd, while Meghan Courtney (So., Waterloo, N.Y.) rounded out the Villanova scoring by finishing 186th in a time of 19:30.96.
On the mens side, Eric Reese (Fr., Dushore, Pa.) led the Villanova charge with his 56th place finish in a time of 24:47.85 in just his second meet as a collegiate. Reese was Villanovas third finisher at the Lafayette Invitational on Sept. 12, when he ran 26:31 to place seventh overall.
Coulby Dunn (Sr., Greentown, Pa.) and Scott Tantino (Jr., North Wales, Pa.) registered solid finishes for the Wildcats. Dunn covered the course in 24:59.21 to earn a 71st-place finish, while Tantino ran 25:00.36 and earned a spot in 73rd position.
Also scoring for the Wildcats were Dean Smith (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) who placed 97th in 25:17.13, and Brock Butler (Sr., West Chester, Pa.) who finished 121st in 25:34.09.
Next Saturday, Oct. 10, the Villanova women return to action when they travel to Lawrence, Kansas to compete in the Pre-NCAA meet held at the University of Kansas. The 1998 NCAA cross country championships will be held in Lawrence on Monday, Nov. 23.
