Sept. 29, 2006

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's cross country team will make its first trip to California in 16 years when it competes at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., this Saturday. The 4,000-meter race will take place at 7:42 p.m. EST (4:42 p.m. PST), followed by the 6,000-meter race at 8:22 p.m. EST (5:22 p.m. PST).

The Midshipmen will race against a group of 25 teams, many of which hail from the state of California, including nationally top-ranked host Stanford.

"We have a great shot at stacking up well against the field," stated Navy head coach Karen Boyle. "This is a chance for us to run against totally new and challenging competition, and at the same time, an opportunity for our front runners to mix it up with All-Americans."

Navy's last visit to the Golden State came in 1990, when the Midshipmen finished fourth at the Division II NCAA Championship in McKinleyville, Calif.

Senior Justine Whipple (Duxbury, Mass.) will look to post Navy's fastest time in her ninth-consecutive race on Saturday. Last weekend at the Spiked Shoe Invitational, Whipple covered the 6k course in 21:48.35 to finish ninth overall. During the season-opening Harry Lang Invitational, she posted the fifth-fastest time in course history with a 22:57 showing to earn individual title honors.

"Justine missed NCAA's by one place last year," Boyle commented. "This gives her a chance early to see what it takes to not only make the NCAA's, but what it takes to be an All-American."

Classmate Emily Castro (Centennial, Colo.) has also provided a consistent low-scoring effort in 2006. Castro has posted one of Navy's two-fastest times, placing among the overall top-15 runners, in each of her three meets this season. Last Saturday, she placed 15th at the Spiked Shoe Invitational with a time of 22:22.10.

Junior Kyleigh Millhouse (Boiling Springs, Pa.) has scored for the Midshipmen in all three meets this year, while senior Allison Barlow (Orange Park, Fla.) owns Navy's fourth-best time in both races she has competed in this fall.

Following this weekend's trip, the Midshipmen will close out their regular season by hosting Army in the annual Star Meet on Saturday, Oct. 14, beginning at 9:30 a.m. After the men's race concludes on that day, Navy will run its Alumni Open at 10:45 a.m.