Villanova Univeristy Athletics

November 27, 1991
Mike Blimm
Assistant Sports Information Director

A dynasty is growing on the campus of Villanova University as the women’s cross country team captured its third consecutive national championship on Monday, November 25, in Tucson, Arizona. Led by a 1-2 finish from Sonia O’Sullivan (Sr., Cobh, Ireland) and Carole Zajac (So., Pittsburgh, PA), the Wildcats became the first women’s team to ever win three straight cross country titles, and O’Sullivan the first woman to win back-to-back individual crowns.
 
Zajac led through most of the race before being overtaken by O’Sullivan in the final 150 yards. O’Sullivan’s winning time of 16:30.3 made her only the second woman to ever win two individual titles (Betty Springs of North Carolina State in 1981 and 1983 being the other) and the first to do so in consecutive years. It was also Villanova’s third consecutive individual winner with Vicki Huber winning in 1989. Zajac placed second in 16:34.9 to stake her claim as the heir apparent to Villanova’s consecutive title reign.
 
Despite the tremendous performance of the first two runners, five runners score in cross country, and it was the determined efforts of Nnenna Lynch (Jr., New York, NY), Cheri Goddard (Jr., Saratoga Springs, NY) and Carol Haux (Sr., Plymouth Meeting, PA) that secured the victory. All three ran to the point of dehydration and exhaustion as Lynch earned All-America honors with a 12^th place finish and Goddard and Haux, 31^st and 68^th respectively, successfully nailed the coffin of the other 21 competing teams with their efforts. Michele Torelli (Sr., Clifton Heights, PA) and Chris Gentile (Jr., Babylon, NY) were Villanova’s sixth and seventh runners, providing valuable depth as they had all season.
 
Needless to say, head coach “Uncle Marty” Stern was thrilled with his team’s performance. “This was the most pressure I ever felt as a coach because we’re used to winning and we know how hard it is. We also didn’t face a lot of the top teams like Arkansas, Northern Arizona or BYU, and the unknown scared us,” Stern stated. “We also wanted to be the first team to win three straight, and there was more publicity on the team as a whole than in previous years, when most of the attention was focused on either Vicki or Sonia,” he added.
 
Running her final collegiate cross country race, Stern had nothing but praise for O’Sullivan. “Sonia is in a different class than everyone else. She is the greatest runner in collegiate track and cross country,” said Stern. “She is the ultimate team person. She was more concerned with the team victory than any personal glory. To her, her win was secondary.”
 
“Carole Zajac is a great runner now, but she is headed for stardom,” according to Stern. “She just went out there and said ‘Here I am, anybody who wants to win, better come after me.’”
 
“Nnenna Lynch was sick the entire week before the race, and not only is she a beautiful runner, but she showed great guts. She has been a major factor in our being undefeated during her three years here.”
 
“Cheri Goddard was trying to just finish the race on her feet, and collapsed after finishing,” stated Stern. “She finished that race for the other six runners on the squad. No matter what she does while at Villanova, I will always remember this performance.”
 
“Carol Haux, like Goddard, doesn’t remember finishing the race. She has always been a strong supporting factor, and in her very last race in a Villanova singlet, she went out and won the race for us.”
 
“Michele Torelli and Chris Gentile thought that they didn’t run well, but when we looked at the results and who they beat, they actually ran tremendous races. No other team in America has seven athletes like we do. I’m very happy with the season they had.”
 
The race marked the final collegiate race for Carol Haux, a fifth year senior, and the last cross country appearance for Villanova by O’Sullivan, Torelli and Gentile.
 

VILLANOVA ROSTER
Name	Class	Hometown	High School (Previous School)
Christine Gentile	Junior	Babylon, N.Y.	Babylon (Texas)
Cheri Goddard	Junior	Saratoga Springs, N.Y.	Saratoga Springs
Jenny Hagar	Junior	Newton, Mass.	Newton North
Carol Haux	Senior	Plymouth Meeting, Pa.	Archbishop Kennedy
Nnenna Lynch	Junior	New York, N.Y.	Hunter College
Emer Molloy	Sophomore	Ballymahon, Ireland	Mercy Secondary
Sonia O'Sullivan	Senior	Cobh, Ireland	Cobh Vocational
Irene Ruopoli	Junior	East Meadow, N.Y.	W.T. Clarke
Becky Spies	Freshman	Livermore, Calif.	Livermore
Michelle Torelli	Senior	Clifton Heights, Pa.	Cardinal O'Hara
Carole Zajac	Sophomore	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Baldwin
Head Coach: Marty Stern (West Chester '59), Ninth Season
Assistant Coach: Pam Fanaritis, First Season

 

1991 HONORS AND AWARDS