Oct. 12, 2003

FAIRFIELD, CT (October 12, 2003) - The Sacred Heart men and women's cross-country teams competed at the 91st Annual New England Championships at Franklin Park in Boston Friday afternoon. The Sacred Heart women bounced back from a tough one point loss in last Saturday's Fairfield Invitational to turn in one of the best team and some of the best individual performances in the program's history. The men also turned in their best New England's team finish in program history.

Heading into this championship the women weren't even ranked in the top 25 in the New England Coaches poll, but they turned that poll on its head by finishing 13th out of 41 complete teams. Last year the women finished 20th overall. The previous best finish in program history was 18th in 2000. The women beat Boston College (15th), Harvard (16th), and Dartmouth (17th) for the first-time ever. Other notable Division I opponents the women topped included Maine (18th), Northeastern (19th), UMass (24th), and Holy Cross (26th). In addition, the women came away with wins over fellow Northeast Conference schools, Quinnipiac (25th), and Central Connecticut (36th).

On a day when seniors shined, captain Katie Wrinkle (Medford, NY) led the women by finishing 12th out of 287 finishers in the varsity race. The top-30 finishers are awarded All-New England honors, and Wrinkle is the first Sacred Heart athlete to ever earn All-New England in cross-country. The best previous individual finish was 37th by Wrinkle in 2002. Her time of 18:16 is the fastest SHU time ever on this course, and the second fastest time overall in school history. Additionally, her 12th place finish is the best in history by a NEC athlete, male or female, in the New England Championships.

Sacred Heart cross country boosters have gotten used to great performances by Wrinkle, but fellow senior captain Suzanne Neglia (Andover, NJ), was the key to SHU's 13th place team finish. Last year, Neglia, who was a walk-on athlete her freshman year, finished 150th in a time of 19:49. This was a personal best at the time. This year, she finished 43rd in a personal best time of 18:46, missing All-New England honors by only 11 seconds. Her old personal best of 19:24 was recorded in last year's NEC Championship. Neglia's performance is the best New England's finish ever by a SHU athlete other than Wrinkle. It also moves her to number three on the all-time Sacred Heart cross-country performance list.

Another senior who shined was captain Christina Mendoza (Union City, NJ) who came up big in the race with a nine second personal best of 19:12, good for 79th overall. Freshman Katie Duffy (Monroe, CT) recorded a 17 second personal best of 19:31 to finish 115th overall. Duffy was the top freshman finisher from amongst the NEC schools in the meet. Rounding out the varsity runners for Sacred Heart were sophomore Erin Kulasewski (West Warwick, RI) (20:01, a 23 second personal best), freshman Annie Duffy (Monroe, CT) (20:15, tying her personal best), and junior Terressa Howard (Meridan, CT) (20:40, a 7 second personal best).

The women also had some notable performances in the junior varsity race. The JV women finished a strong seventh out of 26 complete teams, besting Vermont, Holy Cross, Boston University, and Northeastern, amongst others. Senior Erin Roche (Stony Point, NY) turned in a career performance in the race, placing 26th in a field of 280 runners, with a time of 19:54. Not only would this time have placed Roche 5th on SHU's varsity team, but also it was a personal best by 59 seconds. In a testament to the program's depth, sophomore Cheryl Beaulieu (East Hampton, CT) (40th in 20:15), and senior captain Emily Marks (New Milford, CT) (58th in 20:35) also recorded JV race times faster than members of SHU's varsity squad. Overall, the SHU women had 5 runners under 20:00, and 12 runners under 21:00 on the day.

In the men's varsity race, Sacred Heart placed 31st out of 47 complete teams, representing the best team placing ever for the Pioneer men. The previous best was 32nd in 1999 and 2000, but each of those races featured fewer teams. The men defeated Vermont for the first-time ever, and also topped URI, Northeastern, and NEC foe Central Connecticut, amongst others.

Senior captain Matt Uzenski (Oceanside, NY) recorded the best place finish ever for Sacred Heart in the New England's, finishing 69th in 26:00. The previous best was 72nd by Uzenski in 2001. Uzenski's time was the second fastest time in school history, behind the 25:47 he ran in last year's New England meet. The remaining six varsity runners for Sacred Heart recorded personal bests in the race. Senior captain Andrew Renna (Danbury, CT) was next across the line for Sacred Heart with a 24 second personal best of 27:09. Rounding out the varsity for the men were sophomore Tyler Arnett (Clinton Corners, NY) (27:11, a 23 second personal best), sophomore Bobby Howard (Levittown, NY) (27:27, a 32 second personal best), sophomore Rob Gill (Braintree, MA) (27:36, a 40 second personal best), senior Joe Zalak (Middle Village, NY) (27:37, a 1 second personal best), and freshman Tim Larson (Smithfield, RI) (27:48, a 1 minute and 2 second personal best). Overall on the day, with JV results included, the men had 7 runners under 28:00, 11 runners under 29:00, and 12 runners under 30:00. All are seasonal highs.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday, October 25th at the Collegiate Track Conference Championship in Center Valley, PA.

For Full New England Women's Results click here

For Full New England Women's JV Results click here

For Full New England Men's Results click here

For Full New England Men's JV Results click here

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