Race Results (PDF)

BETHLEHEM, PA (September 30, 2011) – Running in their first 6k race of the season at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University on Friday, the Vassar College women's cross country team finished 19th of 46 in teams. The Brewers were competing in the Brown 6k race.

Competing in a field of Division I, II and III teams and one that head coach James McCowan called “one of the strongest we'll see this early in the season,” the Brewers showed strong team depth and got a number of sound performance from several freshman runners. Division I Iona captured the competition over University of Tampa and Marist College.

Led senior Elizabeth Forbes, who finished first for the Brewers and 68th overall in a field of 385 runners with a 23:32 time, the Brewers were able to surge ahead of several strong competitors, including Ithaca and Swarthmore. Vassar's second through five finishers were all within 32 seconds of one another.

Finishing second overall for Vassar was sophomore Aubree Piepmeier in 23:46. Freshman Harper Cleves was third (24:02), followed by junior Kelly Holmes (24:10) and freshman Viviane Ford (24:18), rounding out the scoring group.

Freshman Cassady Carpenter, who was making her collegiate debut, finished sixth (24:24), and senior #Hannah Ziobrowski was seventh (24:29).

Senior Melissa McClung, who was running in a open race, drew strong praise from McCowan for her effort at Paul Short.

While McCowan was pleased with what he called a solid performance in the teams first 6k of the season, he knows there are improvements ahead for the Brewers.

“We beat some teams we wanted to catch, and got beat by some teams that we want to catch going forward,” said McCowan. “I know we can run better later in the esason, but in a race with this type of field, I'll take it.”

McCowan said he'd like to see his team get more assertive towards the front of the pack. “I'd like to see the pack shift up a bit more,” he said. “We've done a good job running as a tight pack, but that pack now has to shift up a few points higher. We'll get stronger and be able to do that when our training shifts gears into October.”

The Brewers return to action next Saturday at the St. Lawrence Pre-Regional in Canton, NY. Vassar will race the course used at the NCAA Atlantic Regionals on November 12.