Volume CXXXIII, Number 8 November 2, 2001 f

Women runners take sixth at NESCAC's
KRISTEN DUMMER
STAFF WRITER

Molly Juhlin '05, left. (Colin LeCroy, Bowdoin Orient)

The women of Bowdoin cross country ran to a sixth-place finish among the intense competition that visited their home course last weekend. One hundred twenty-eight women lined up at the start of the 2001 Women's Cross Country NESCAC Championships.

Middlebury, the defending national Division III champion, captured the race with four finishers in top-12 spots. These four runners contributed to the Panthers' team score of 48 points.

In second place was Williams, with 59 points, followed by third-place Amherst (98).

Five Polar Bear women finished in the top 40 of the championship. First year Audra Caler finished 11th, the only team member to earn second-team All-NESCAC honors.

She clocked in at 18:35, on a 5:59 mile pace.

The next pack of Bowdoin women came across the line 30th, 35th, 38th and 40th in the group. Katherine Landry '05 finished in 19:16, followed by juniors Libby Barney (19:22) and Bre McKenna (19:24). Ellen Beth '05 trailed McKenna by only five seconds, finishing in 19:27 to earn 40th place.

The exciting afternoon of racing was completed with an awards ceremony in which Joan Benoit Samuelson '83 congratulated the athletes. Samuelson won the Boston Marathon in 1983 as senior at Bowdoin. She continued her success and won a gold medal in the first-ever women's Olympic marathon in August of 1984.

Samuelson said that she was pleased to return to Bowdoin, and even participated in the event, running in the open race that followed varsity competition.

Tomorrow, the Bears travel to Williams for the ECAC meet, set for an 11:00 am start.