Sept. 25, 2009

HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Villanova men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2009 season on Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Main Line Invitational held on the Haverford College campus. Both squads turned in outstanding performances and look poised for big things this coming season.

In men's action, the Wildcats occupied the first seven spots and nine of the first 13 places. Leading the way for Villanova was senior Daniel Lewis (Staten Island, N.Y.) who took home individual honors in 19:50.76. Just behind Lewis in second place was junior Hugo Beamish (Havelock North, New Zealand) who was timed in 19:50.96. The other Wildcat who ran under 20 minutes was sophomore Mathew Mildenhall (Mt. Eden, Auckland, New Zealand) who finished third in 19:51.17.

The four through seven positions were recorded by junior Carl Mackenzie (Lower Hutt, New Zealand) in fourth (20:00.78), sophomore Matthew Kane (Fairfield, Conn.), in fifth (20:07.61), sophomore Joseph LoRusso (Oak Hill, Va.) in sixth (20:11.69) and senior Robert Papazian (Pittstown, N.J.) in seventh (20:13.84).

Two other Villanovans finishing in the top 15 were senior Cody Harper (Albuquerque, N.M.) who was 12th in 20:33.85 and junior Jason Apwah (Ledgewood, N.J.) who was 13th in 20:36.83.

On the women's side, the No. 5 nationally ranked Villanova Wildcats dominated the field with Wildcat runners finishing one through five. Senior Kaitlyn Tallman (Mindemyoh, Ontario) narrowly edged junior teammate Sheila Reid (Newmarket, Ontario) to earn the individual title. Tallman ran 16:15.52, while Reid was second in 16:15.80.

Senior Nicole Schappert (Delray Beach, Fla.) ran 16:19.74 and garnered a third place finish, while Junior Amanda Marino (Jackson, N.J.) was clocked in 16:23.02 to finish fourth. Sophomore Bogdana Mimic (Zadar, Croatia) rounded out the top five with a time of 16:44.94. After Mimic crossed the line, it was over a minute later before the next runner crossed the line when Michelle Wallace of the College of New Jersey finished in 17:52.66.

Three other Wildcats tallied top 20 finishes including junior Kaitlin O'Sullivan (Ganesroot, N.Y.) who was 11th in 18:38.44, freshman Ariann Neutts (Succasunna, N.J.) who was 14th in 18:55.64 and freshman Meghan Smith (Newark, Del.) who was 16th in 19:06.88.

The Villanova men and women will get their first tough test of the young season next Friday, Oct. 2, when the Wildcats travel to Eugene, Ore., to take part in the Bill Dellinger Invitational.