Clemson Women Claim 22nd Annual Seahawk Cross Country Invitational

Sept. 7, 2007

Wilmington, NC – The Clemson women’s cross country team carried a full squad to the UNC-Wilmington campus for the 22nd annual Seahawk Invitational on Friday. The team came through with a first-place finish out of six schools and showed improvement over its first meet of the season, the Gamecock Invitational last Friday.

Clemson had a total of 35 points and held off East Carolina, who was second with 39. Host school UNC-Wilmington finished third with 65, while Campbell had an 85-point total. Pfeiffer (146) and Mount Olive (190) also competed Friday.

“I was happy we had a 10-second split between our top five finishers,” said Gordon Thomson, distance coach on the women’s team who is in his second year with the program. “We’re making progress.”

All five of Clemson’s scorers placed inside the top 10 individually, led by Jenna Baker in fourth place. The freshman out of Bellevue, OH posted a time of 19:08.4 in her first-ever collegiate 5K race. Laura Laughlin, the team’s top performer last week, was sixth overall with a time of 19:12.67. She now has a pair of top-10 finishes in two meets so far this season.

Sunday Ford was seventh, also her second top-10 finish this season. The Piedmont, SC native had a time of 19:14.43. She held off freshman Joanie Castagno, who was right behind with a time of 19:14.43. Abby Iselborn, a third freshman scorer Friday evening, posted a 10th-place finish and her 5K time was 19:28.11.

Four student-athletes also posted top-20 finishes but did not count toward the team score for Clemson. Lauren Klas, a sophomore, was 14th overall with a time of 19:49.26. She was two spots ahead of Jill Yandle, another freshman, whose time was 19:53.83. Annie Castagno (18th, 20:02.06) and Lisa Brown (20th, 20:04.49) were also among the top 20 Friday.

The next action for the women’s cross country team will come next Saturday at the Commodore Classic in Nashville, TN. The meet is scheduled for September 15 at 11:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time).